In a move that caught many off-guard, California lawmakers and Governor Gavin Newsom just rewrote the rulebook for who controls the state’s nearly 10,000 public schools—and they did it fast. The elected state superintendent position, once the top education authority, is effectively being sidelined. Starting next year, the governor will appoint a new education commissioner to run the California Department of Education instead.
The speed of this shift is raising eyebrows. Lawmakers introduced the proposal on Friday and passed it on Monday with minimal public hearings—a stark departure from how complex policy usually gets vetted. The governor made clear he wouldn’t sign the budget without this change, essentially forcing the issue through the spending bill process rather than the traditional legislative route.
Outgoing State Superintendent Tony Thurmond isn’t calling it a disaster, but he’s not thrilled either. While acknowledging that most states already have governors oversee education, Thurmond argued the decision should have gone to voters—the same voters who originally elected him to the position. His core concern? There’s no guarantee this streamlines anything or improves student performance. In fact, he worries it just adds another layer of decision-making without removing any of the old ones.
Assembly Member Dr. Darshana Patel, chair of the Assembly Education Committee, sees the bigger picture differently. The fractured governance system—where the state board and an independent superintendent sometimes clash—has been confusing districts for over 100 years, she argues. A commissioner reporting directly to the governor could cut through that confusion faster, particularly when implementing new statewide policies. When a school district doesn’t have resources to roll out a new program, they’d have a clearer path to the governor’s budget authority.
Here’s the rub: California’s literacy rates are lagging, math scores are concerning, and college-ready rates are dropping. Patel’s logic is that doing the same thing and expecting different results is, well, nonsense. But Thurmond’s point stands too—there’s no actual metric tied to this change that guarantees it’ll fix those problems. The state is gambling that consolidating power under the governor’s office will cut red tape and improve outcomes. Come next school year, families and educators will start finding out if that gamble pays off.
About the Author
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.
