The central aspect of the PACE plan calls for removing the state superintendent as the head of the California Department of Education. Instead, that department would be run by an appointee of the state Board of Education<\/a>. Members of the state board are appointed by the governor to fixed four-year terms.<\/p>\n The PACE report envisions the \u201cgovernor as the chief architect and steward responsible for aligning and advancing California\u2019s education system.\u201d According to the report, the \u201cgovernor could develop long-term plans and use the budget as a strategic lever to advance them.\u201d<\/p>\n A release from the governor\u2019s office<\/a> asserted that the state\u2019s education system operates as \u201ca fragmented set of entities with overlapping roles that sometimes operate in conflict with one another, to the detriment of educational services offered to students.\u201d<\/p>\n This education initiative, if approved by the Legislature, could prove a defining element of Newsom\u2019s education agenda for his last year in office. He would not get to exercise these new powers, which would fall to his successor.<\/p>\n State Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond immediately raised concerns, while also praising Newsom\u2019s record on education.<\/p>\n \u201cGov. Newsom has done an incredible job on education, one of the best governors we\u2019ve had on education … and I think we have been more aligned than any state superintendent and governor in recent times,\u201d said Thurmond, who is running to succeed Newsom as governor. \u201cOn this one issue, I don\u2019t think we could be more misaligned.\u201d<\/p>\n Here are the details and why Newsom wants to move forward with this plan.<\/p>\n Who controls what happens in California\u2019s schools? <\/p>\n Authority over education is distributed<\/a> among different officeholders.<\/p>\n The Legislature passes laws related to education. The governor chooses which to sign. The governor also proposes what to pay for in education through his budget plan. The Legislature can amend the plan and has the responsibility to approve it.<\/p>\n The elected state superintendent<\/a> runs the state Department of Education and serves as the administrative lead for the state Board of Education. The superintendent does not have a vote on the board. In some areas, he answers to the authority of the state board; in others, he does not. <\/p>\n The governor appoints the state board, which approves the wording of state education policies. The board also approves curriculum and grants waivers to school districts seeking exemptions from state rules.<\/p>\n What is the problem Newsom says he is trying to fix?<\/p>\n The PACE report says the system is too complicated. It\u2019s not clear who is in charge of what and who is accountable for results. <\/p>\n This has not stopped state officials from taking credit for positive developments or favored policies. Both Newsom and Thurmond take credit for creating the new grade of transitional kindergarten for 4-year-olds and for providing two meals at school each day for all students. <\/p>\n Both had a role in supporting and executing that policy, although neither would have happened without Newsom\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n Some parts of the education system are not faring so well. Statewide student test scores and absenteeism rates<\/a> \u2014 although improving \u2014 are worse than<\/a> in 2018-19, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Fewer than half of California students meet state standards in English language arts and math.<\/p>\n As part of its work, the PACE research team conducted interviews with 16 former and current policymakers, researchers and education leaders. Collectively they rated the performance of the state\u2019s education system somewhere between fair and poor when it comes to strategic thinking, accountability, capacity, knowledge governance, stakeholder involvement and systemwide perspective.<\/p>\n What would the state superintendent do under the Newsom plan? <\/p>\n A news release from the governor said his plan would \u201cexpand and strengthen the State Superintendent of Public Instruction\u2019s ability to foster coordination and alignment of state education policies from early childhood through post-secondary education.\u201d<\/p>\n Thurmond is not persuaded, based on his review of the PACE report, which would take the Department of Education away from the superintendent. <\/p>\n That report reimagines that state superintendent as a student \u201cchampion\u201d who would analyze and report on the effectiveness of the state education system and also take on an advocacy role. <\/p>\n The PACE analysts noted that the Legislature would need to provide funding and staffing for the superintendent, in this new role, to be effective. Thurmond said that even under the current structure, underfunding of the state Education Department limits its effectiveness.<\/p>\n Thurmond said it would make more sense to give the elected state schools leader more authority over education spending and more resources, given that individual\u2019s specific focus on education.<\/p>\n Why not just eliminate the elected state superintendent? <\/p>\n The state\u2019s voters have rejected that option in the past. So have the powerful teachers unions, which have seen the office as a check on the governor\u2019s power and an outpost in which they could campaign to install an ally.<\/p>\n How does this play out politically?<\/p>\n Newsom has taken credit for much in education, including career and mentoring programs, funding for teacher training and expanded community schools, which serve the broader needs of an entire family. <\/p>\n \u201cJust this year, we\u2019ve seen improved academic achievement in every subject area, in every grade level, in every student group,\u201d Newsom said in his prepared State of the State remarks, \u201cwith greater gains in test scores for Black and Latino kids.\u201d<\/p>\n He also took credit for state education spending per student at the highest level to date.<\/p>\n But he or his representatives have, at times, distanced himself from Department of Education guidelines that have expanded the rights of transgender students, including, for example, the right of transgender students to play on girls\u2019 sports teams.<\/p>\n California Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond has concerns about Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s proposal to change how the state\u2019s schools are managed. <\/p>\n (Josh Edelson\/For The Times)<\/p>\n Under the proposed system, a future governor would be more accountable for these and other policies.<\/p>\n Thurmond said that Newsom\u2019s positive record proves that the governor already is the most powerful official in the state when it comes to education \u2014 and that more power does not need to be concentrated in that office.<\/p>\n What is the governance model in other states? <\/p>\n If California were to adopt a model in which the state board appoints the head of the Education Department, \u201cit would align with the plurality of states that follow this governance approach,\u201d the PACE report states. <\/p>\n In 20 states, including Massachusetts, New York, Florida and Mississippi, state boards of education directly appoint their chief state school officers. Twelve states, including California, select their chief state school officer through direct election.<\/p>\n Thurmond countered that even in some states with an appointed superintendent, the role has more authority than the elected superintendent in California.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday previewed a major education system overhaul that would give the next governor more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,8707,65331,9,8,13992,65164,943,3290,346,65334,22178,6049,4265,65332,45992,4574,65333],"class_list":{"0":"post-125822","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-department","10":"tag-california-education","11":"tag-california-headlines","12":"tag-california-news","13":"tag-credit","14":"tag-education-system","15":"tag-governor","16":"tag-newsom","17":"tag-office","18":"tag-pace-report","19":"tag-researcher","20":"tag-role","21":"tag-school","22":"tag-state-board","23":"tag-state-superintendent","24":"tag-student","25":"tag-thurmond"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"California](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767914828_626_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n