California’s budget deal would strip control over the Department of Education from California’s superintendent

California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction will no longer oversee the Department of Education. That’s per a new law legislators passed last week.

The new education commissioner, which the next governor will appoint, will instead oversee the department and California’s public schools. The superintendent will still serve on multiple state education boards.

Newsom originally floated the change during his State of the State address in January, following recommendation made in a report by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), based at Stanford University.

“California can no longer postpone reforms that have been recommended regularly for a century. So we are going to modernize the governance system by unifying the policy-making State Board with the Department of Education that implements those policies,” Newsom said in a statement. 

Proponents argue reorganization of the state’s education governance will streamline the implementation of statewide education policy, in turn improving student college and career readiness.

“As students' performance continues to lag and doesn't improve regardless of who has been in office, it's important that we look at and review some of the reasons as to why our educational system is not performing how it should,” said Democratic Assemblymember David Alvarez of San Diego, who authored the budget bill.

But, the two candidates running for superintendent disagree with how lawmakers enacted the change.

Richard Barrera, who’s on board of the San Diego Unified School District, is one of them.

“I don’t like the way that the Governor and the legislature went about this,” said Richard Barrera, who sits on the San Diego Unified School District Board and is running for superintendent. “It was rushed and done through the budget negotiations rather than what really should’ve happened is taking a change of this magnitude to the voters.”

By going through the budget process, the policy bypassed certain committee hearings in the legislative process.

But, Barrera added, the superintendent will still be responsible for connecting local school districts with the state to craft cohesive education policy – a process he says should start at the local level.

Chino Valley Unified School Board Member Sonja Shaw, who is also running for California superintendent, has heavily criticized Newsom and lawmakers for the change.

“It’s an assault on our constitution and our system of checks and balances. I believe he orchestrated the most brazen power grab in California history,” said Shaw.

The change will go into effect under a new governor in January of 2027. Gubernatorial candidates, Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton, haven’t weighed in on the restructuring.