One of the offices on the November ballot is California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction. That elected official has led the state’s Department of Education and made sure policies passed by lawmakers are implemented.
Next year, that will change.
Under an agreement approved as part of the state budget this week, a commissioner appointed by the governor will lead the department.
Assemblymember David Alvarez, a Democrat who represents San Diego and Chula Vista, introduced a bill calling for the change. Accountability will no longer be split between two elected leaders, he said.
“This gives the ultimate responsibility to our elected governor,” Alvarez said. “It will be clear going forward that the governor, whoever he or she is, is responsible for academic outcomes in the state of California. And if those outcomes aren't what they need to be, the buck stops there.”
Ted Lempert, president of the youth advocacy group Children Now, said it makes a “much-needed change a reality.”
“The approval of education governance reform, over a century in the making, is a monumental victory for California’s students that finally establishes a sensible system to best support them,” he said.
He referred to multiple studies over the last 30 years that recommended changing how California governs its schools.
The California Teachers Association opposes the decision. So do the two candidates running for state superintendent in the November election.
One of them is San Diego Unified School Board President Richard Barrera. He said it’s divided the education community.
“How do we bring all of these different, you know, interests together to focus on a clear set of goals for student achievement? And then how do we hold ourselves accountable for making progress towards those goals? That's the idea behind this reform,” he said. “The problem is the way that they went about it, which was to really rush this through the budget process.”
Barrera is running against Sonja Shaw, president of the Chino Valley Unified School Board. In a statement, she noted that voters have rejected opportunities to abolish the role or make it an appointed position.
“This bill is a direct assault by Gavin Newsom on the California Constitution and the will of the voters,” Shaw said in a statement. “Voters elect their state superintendent to serve as an independent voice for California education, not as a figurehead. This bill strips that office of its core duties and hands them to a political appointee. It removes critical checks and balances and tells parents their votes no longer matter.”
The plan does give some new responsibilities to the superintendent. He or she will be a voting member of the State Board of Education. Currently, all of the board’s members are appointed by the governor.
The superintendent will also serve on boards that oversee California’s community colleges, the University of California system and the California State University system.
“The State Superintendent of Public Instruction will be critical to ensure that there is what we call coherence, or that there is transparency and accountability from system to system,” Alvarez said.
California voters will choose between Barrera and Shaw in November. The changes will go into effect Jan. 15.
