California Politics 360 full episode | Major leadership shift for CA Education Dept.
As lawmakers and the governor passed the state’s spending plan for the year, they also approved a major change in who oversees the California Department of Education.
Leadership shift. Why the state is changing who oversees its thousands of schools and what families can expect with classes starting in just weeks. *** growing safety issue across the state. People may call them fireworks, uh, but they actually may be homemade explosives. It very much is organized crime. What Cal Fire is doing to crack down. America celebrating 250 years. What can we do to unite us instead of divide us? That’s what America 250 is about. This is the most historic spot in all of California. It’s been nearly 180 years. It’s the thrill of the hunt, and the hunt to strike it rich is still well alive. Here, every creek, every river was full of gold. *** look back at the roots of the gold rush. Thank you for joining us for California Politics 360. I’m Ashley Zavala. *** major shift when it comes to who is in charge of California’s nearly 10,000 public schools as lawmakers and the governor passed the state spending plan for the year, they also approved *** major change in who oversees the California Department of Education. Governor Gavin Newsom told me he would not sign the state budget without this. The elected state superintendent of public instruction will no longer oversee the department. That power has now been handed to the governor. *** brand new education commissioner appointed by the governor will be in charge of the department starting next year. The change has implications not only on the next election but also on the upcoming school year just *** few weeks away because this proposal was fast tracked at our state capitol, many are trying to figure out what does this mean for public schools. I start the conversation with the outgoing state superintendent of public instruction Tony Thurmond. Here’s part of our conversation. Lawmakers and the governor moved so that it’s no longer overseen by the superintendent, your office, but now the governor of California moving forward. What’s your response to all of this? To be honest, you know, I don’t think it’s *** bad idea when *** governor wants to be involved in education, and quite frankly, most states have an executive over education who was appointed by the governor, so it’s not *** bad thing, but it should have been done. By taking it to the voters, right, the state superintendent position is approved by the voters, and I just think that would have been *** cleaner way to do it. I’m concerned that this proposal has been created and it has not. Offered *** single outcome or metric for how it will improve student performance, and it has weakened the existing state superintendent position and so it’s interesting their premise was that they were trying to streamline all these layers of government. It seems to me. That by not getting rid of the one thing and creating this other thing they essentially just created another layer of decision making in the education sector. You’re one of our first interviews on this since this proposal passed, and again it passed quickly. It was put into writing last Friday. It was passed on Monday. There really were no public hearings just to flesh out this one topic. Is that OK? He Well, it meets the requirements of the law, but is it the best way you know to talk about *** complex process? No, in fairness, there have been some hearings in the education committees in the assembly, in the Senate, but again, I think that this is *** process that *** measure of this magnitude, I think. Either you put it to the voters or you put it through *** traditional bill process and let it go through the legislative hearing process and get approval by two houses and then the governor signs it. As Thurman noted, lawmakers quickly passed this change through the budget process, which means the proposal did not get the normal amount of public hearings and vettings typically required for changes to state law. I sat down with the chair of the Assembly’s Education Committee, Assembly Member Doctor Darshana Patel. Here’s part of our conversation. You know California students are struggling in reading, math, science, I mean virtually many subjects. What will this do for those educational outcomes? So on the ground what we’ll see is *** streamlined process when our LEAs are looking for supports, they’re gonna be able to go to the CDE through their counties or directly to the CDE, and they will. Have *** qualified administrator leading them to addressing all of their concerns when there’s *** new program that is rolled out by the governor and it’s put in through the budgetary process, the administrator of the commissioner of the California Department of Education will be in line and synced up with that policy. And they will have clear budgetary authority to provide resources to those local agencies who are trying to implement these broad policy shifts. There will be clear accountability. So if *** school district is trying to implement *** new policy from the state and they’re not adequately resourced, they can go directly to the commissioner who has *** direct chain of command to the governor who’s controlling the state budget. But are there thresholds like guarantees that this will help? So What we’re doing right now isn’t working. And for 100, for over 100 years there have been report after report after report showing that this fractured governance system where we have the state board of education who is appointed by the governor competing with or sometimes not in line with an independently elected SPI and what that means on the ground level is that people don’t know how to implement or to what threshold they need to implement *** new policy. This will streamline that. What we’re doing right now isn’t working as you said we have literacy rates that are not where they need to be math understanding, number sense, not where it needs to be. Our UC system, you saw the report from UCSD and from Cal, kids are coming in, students are coming into college without having *** good understanding of basic algebra. We can’t keep doing the same thing that we’ve been doing and expect *** different result. We all know that that’s nonsense. The superintendent of public instruction, who currently holds this office, Tony Thurmond, we spoke with him, he said that he was not included at all in this process. I mean, you all essentially wrote *** law on *** Friday and you passed it on *** Monday. Yeah, that you know if we look back at the timeline in January, the governor made his proposal through the budget by February I was chair of the education committee and I took it upon myself as my first action to hold an information hearing where we had all the key stakeholders present, including the superintendent. To weigh in on what they’re negotiating what what their negotiations would be at the table, I invited all key stakeholders into the very public conversation. That was the opportunity to start engaging on what that change would look like. The governor made his mission very, very clear that this was going to happen. So what exactly this means for the upcoming school year, it’s really not clear. The conversation continues online with Assembly Member Doctor Darshana Patel. Superintendent Tony Thurmond also talks about what he plans to do in his position for the final 6 months of his term. Both full interviews are available on Calpolitics 360.com. Illegal fireworks lighting up the sky across California. What Cal Fire is doing to find them and the new state effort to stop the pipeline into the state. *** massive explosion killed 7 people in *** small Yolo County town last year. It revealed *** growing issue of illegal fireworks in California. Lise Amitri shows us the action Cal Fire is taking to tackle the root of this problem. Probably show my kids these photos. This was Jamie Groshong 3 years ago, *** member of the Bella Vista baseball team looking at prospects for college recruitment. Uh, both my parents are athletes and they’re awesome, but they have always supported me throughout the baseball journey. All of that changed in *** single moment 3 summers ago at *** neighborhood fireworks show as he tried to light and throw *** firework. As soon as my, uh, my buddy went like this with the lighter, um. It, it jumped fuse from like the fuse was shaped like this and it jumped from here to there. That illegal firework took Jamie’s hand. OK, life now like. Uh, we skipped the baseball and this is real world. Groschon isn’t alone. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, last year 15 people died and an estimated 13,000 people were injured by fireworks. Anywhere, crowds are typically assembled, pyrotechnics are there somewhere for them. Nicholas Schroeder is an arson investigator for C Cal Fire. He says the number of fireworks hitting the streets is growing year by year, but there’s *** bigger problem. People may call them fireworks, but they actually may be homemade explosives, so-called overcharged fireworks, more explosive, more dangerous, and completely illegal. And last year we had over *** million pounds of illegal fireworks. Daniel Berland is the state fire marshal. He says those overcharged fireworks are the same kind of explosives investigators say were being manufactured along County Road 86A in Esparta. Fireworks that exploded killing 7 people. The root of the problem is really the manufacturing of illegal products, overstocking, putting too much explosive powder in them. It very much is organized crime and very much the intel that we received is that the penalties for fireworks and selling illegal fireworks is much less than drugs or ammunition, and so it’s become *** good revenue source for organized crime. The cases span the state. In 2023, San Jose police seized 38,000. Pounds of fireworks along with drugs, cash, and *** gun. In June 19th of this year, Pasadena Fire and police seized 10,000 pounds of illegal fireworks, tied, they believe, to *** criminal street gang smuggling fireworks from Nevada. Those fireworks are taken off the streets by departments across the state, and C Cal Fire stores them here in the middle of the California desert, waiting for destruction. We’re really having to kind of pivot our strategy, not just chasing every 911 call that comes. In on the 4th of July to try to stop somebody from shooting off illegal fireworks and really narrowing into who are the enterprises, where are the individuals, and the fireworks haven’t been hard to find. *** scan of social media showed dozens of ads throughout California skirting algorithms by listing game controllers with fireworks in the background saying DM for the menu in order to get prices. I did not realize that just the sheer scale of what was involved here. State Senator Christopher Cabalin represents Yolo County. After the Espardo explosion, he saw *** need to close the legal loopholes that street gangs and organized crime can exploit. In addition to, you know, joining the families in the community and their mourning and their rebuild of their lives, we also needed to make sure that that this can’t happen again. And so we introduced legislation in order to try to tackle some of the glaring gaps, gaps that can allow dangerous explosives to hit the streets, fund criminal activities, and hurt people, something Jamie Groschong knows all too well. I think the selling of fireworks, uh, I think if they’re not meant to be somewhere, they shouldn’t be there. Lisemitri, California Politics 360. Senator Christopher Cabaldin is working to align California’s regulations with some that already exist at the federal level. He also wants to add more oversight of California’s ports. His proposal would also set fees to cover the costs of permitting and inspections of fireworks storage facilities. It’s more than halfway through California’s lawmaking process. It passed through the state Senate and is making its way through the assembly now. Well, as the country continues its birthday celebrations, how one state lawmaker hopes this 4th of July unites Californians and the country. California marking America’s 250th birthday with *** celebration at the state Capitol. Military jets flew over the Capitol that was lit up in red, white, and blue. Assembly Member Jeff Gonzalez organized the celebration at our state Capitol. The veteran wanted to ensure California marked the special occasion. I sat down with him to talk about America 250. Here’s part of our conversation. In this moment of America 250, I mean from your perspective, is this more of *** bipartisan moment, or do you feel like there’s *** lot of division in this country right now? There’s *** ton of division in this country, and you know, people, people like that. They like division because that sells, but in the military. We believe in being united. We believe we call it the the the the blue arrow, the unifying objective. It doesn’t matter where you came from, doesn’t matter what branch you’re from, we all have *** *** *** *** unified goal to achieve the mission, and I take that very seriously when I come here to the to the state legislature, you know, uh, Senator Caroline Menzjaar is *** Democrat and I’m *** Republican. But we’re both Marines, so we come together, we leave that party stuff off to the side. We say what can we do together to help advocate for our military and veteran community, and that’s that’s the stance that we take. That’s the stance that I’ve taken since day one. That’s the stance that I’ll continue to take and fight for across the board. People want me to be far right or far left or in the center. I I I I’m nobody’s anything other than I’m I’m just Jeff. I’m just *** marine. And I want to do what’s right for my community and that means putting those things to the side and that’s what America 250 is about is remembering that we came together as *** as *** group of uh some might say *** band of misfits came together to form this this union to make it more perfect. We have *** history and and some of it is not so good. It has its bumps. But when we can come together, And look to the next 250 and say what can we do to unite us instead of divide us? That’s what America 250 is about. It’s about the struggle that got us here but about the future that we have, you know my dad is from, uh, from Mexico, from, from Oaxaca. He came to this country with very little and, uh. He worked 2 and 3 jobs just to take care of our family. And, and he says I honored him by joining the the military, but he honored me by by serving in our community, by working, and I think this is another way that we can look at America 250 years and say we’ve come from all over. And together we can unite. Under under one flag of of freedom, one flag of, of celebration, and one flag of future prosperity, of future unity, uh, that’s what America 250 really is about is the world coming together, even our first nations, our first people coming together, all of us saying united we stand. Aslamman Gonzalez also talks about his service in the Marines and what led him specifically to becoming *** pastor, *** small business owner, and then *** lawmaker. Well, California’s gold rush dates back nearly 180 years ago, and the thrill of the rush is still very much alive. Next we take *** look back at the roots of the gold rush and what keeps treasure hunters coming back generation after generation. This weekend we celebrated America’s 250th birthday. It’s been nearly 180 years since gold was first discovered in Northern California. Hundreds of thousands of people traveled to the Golden State hoping to find *** fleck of gold, as Jason Marks shows us all these years later, prospectors are still looking in hopes of striking it rich. The Stanislaus National Forest in California is nearly 900,000 acres. It’s the thrill of the hunt, but there’s some who believe 160 of them are the most valuable. Back in the 1850s they were walking around picking the nuggets up off the ground. Get in here. There’s still gold to be found at the Lost Dutchman Italian bar camp. And prospector Julie Hanson is hoping her dreams will materialize. Oh, I’m always excited. You never know when you’re going to pull your biggest piece, right? You never ever know. Almost every week, Hansen makes the 2.5 hour drive from her El Dorado County home. Did I tell you it’s *** great workout, June? She was bitten by the bug just by chance in 2018. I was driving past Coloma one day, walked across the street and saw Marshall Gold and was hooked. This is the most historic spot in all of California. 90 miles north in Placer County is the site of one of the great discoveries in American history made by James Marshall. Marshall said, I found the gold 35 to 45 yards downstream from the sawmill, so the sawmill was over there, and so that puts us right in this area. In 1848, Marshall was in Coloma building *** sawmill, *** sawmill that would never be finished. You could say he and others got distracted. We estimate that there were only 14,000 non-native people in California when gold was discovered, and two years later we got 220,000. There was plenty of it here. Every creek, every river was full of gold. Mostly men came from all over. Average age 22, 1st time away from their homes. These guys never had *** dime in their pockets, and now they’re going to go here to get rich. Unfortunately we figure about 5% of them got rich. All these little rippers are going to catch your gold. It’s not going anywhere. Almost 200 years later, there is still *** chase. I just love it. I love being out here. It’s great for stress. It’s great to be out in nature and then you find gold. What’s, you know, there’s nothing there not to love. Marking America 250 for photojournalist Victor Nieto, Jason Marks in Sacramento, California. OK, so the price of gold back in 1850 was $20 an ounce. Now one ounce is worth *** little more than $4500. Right now on Calpolitics 360.com you can watch this week’s full interviews. We also wanna hear from you what issues do you want us to cover on this program. Please send us an email at contact@calpolitics360.com. Thank you so much for joining us for this week’s California Politics 360. See you next week.
California Politics 360 full episode | Major leadership shift for CA Education Dept.
As lawmakers and the governor passed the state’s spending plan for the year, they also approved a major change in who oversees the California Department of Education.
Updated: 8:20 AM PDT Jul 5, 2026
A major shift when it comes to who is in charge of California’s nearly 10,000 public schools.As lawmakers and the governor passed the state’s spending plan for the year, they also approved a major change in who oversees the California Department of Education. On California Politics 360, Ashley Zavala sits down with the outgoing State Superintendent Tony Thurmond and the chair of the Assembly Education Committee, Assembly Member Dr. Darshana Patel. A massive explosion killed seven people in a small Yolo County town last year. It revealed a growing issue of illegal fireworks in California. Lysee Mitri shows us the action Cal Fire is taking to tackle the root of the problem. California marked America’s 250th birthday with a celebration at the State Capitol. Ashley Zavala sat down with veteran and Assembly Member Jeff Gonzalez about what he hopes Californians take away from this celebration. It’s been nearly 180 years since gold was discovered in California. Jason Marks takes a look back at the history of the gold rush and what attracts prospectors all these years later.KCRA 3 Political Director Ashley Zavala reports in-depth coverage of top California politics and policy issues. She is also the host of “California Politics 360.” Get informed each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KCRA 3.
A major shift when it comes to who is in charge of California’s nearly 10,000 public schools.
As lawmakers and the governor passed the state’s spending plan for the year, they also approved a major change in who oversees the California Department of Education.
On California Politics 360, Ashley Zavala sits down with the outgoing State Superintendent Tony Thurmond and the chair of the Assembly Education Committee, Assembly Member Dr. Darshana Patel.
A massive explosion killed seven people in a small Yolo County town last year. It revealed a growing issue of illegal fireworks in California. Lysee Mitri shows us the action Cal Fire is taking to tackle the root of the problem.
California marked America’s 250th birthday with a celebration at the State Capitol. Ashley Zavala sat down with veteran and Assembly Member Jeff Gonzalez about what he hopes Californians take away from this celebration.
It’s been nearly 180 years since gold was discovered in California. Jason Marks takes a look back at the history of the gold rush and what attracts prospectors all these years later.
KCRA 3 Political Director Ashley Zavala reports in-depth coverage of top California politics and policy issues. She is also the host of “California Politics 360.” Get informed each Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on KCRA 3.