The race for California\u2019s next superintendent of public instruction is meant to be nonpartisan. Still, the two candidates \u2014 both school board presidents \u2014 are pushing decidedly political campaigns, one aligning with liberal Democrats and the other with pro-Trump Republicans as they present dueling visions for how the state\u2019s children should be taught.<\/p>\n
Democrat Richard Barrera, the favorite, beat out six other Democrats with his background in union organizing and liberal politics \u2014 and with more than $5 million from the California Teachers Assn. Republican Sonja Shaw rode a wave of support from a conservative education movement<\/a> she helped build alongside MAGA organizations, Christian nationalists and anti-LGBTQ+ groups, while also consolidating mainstream Republicans behind her.<\/p>\n Although Democratic state lawmakers recently stripped many of the powers from the superintendent, the race remains a bellwether for how Californians feel about the public education of about 5.7 million children \u2014 as the Trump administration aggressively targets the state over its progressive policies.<\/p>\n Candidates\u2019 disparate visions<\/p>\n Taking the California Democratic Party convention stage in February, Barrera, president of the San Diego Unified Board of Education, gave a quick shout-out<\/a> to the California Teachers Assn. for backing his bid.<\/p>\n He then promoted his work in San Diego to improve student performance, raise teacher salaries and construct \u201cenvironmentally sustainable schools built by union workers.\u201d He blasted \u201cdowntown Republican business interests\u201d for trying to privatize schools, and President Trump\u2019s immigration policies, which he said terrify many California students who fear losing their undocumented parents.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s time for us to organize, stand up to Trump, abolish ICE and create the schools our students are worthy of,\u201d Barrera said.<\/p>\n Two months later,<\/a> Shaw, president of the Chino Valley Unified School District Board of Education, introduced herself at an event as a mom and a \u201cfighter\u201d who isn\u2019t afraid to \u201clook the enemy in the eye\u201d because God protects her.<\/p>\n She described her opponents as California liberals who pushed school closures and mask policies during the COVID-19 pandemic and now advocate for the rights of transgender students at the expense of other students.<\/p>\n Shaw said she entered politics inspired by the MAGA-aligned group Moms for Liberty, which campaigns against teaching about ongoing systemic racism, opposes diversity programs as discriminatory and has fought against classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity. <\/p>\n Shaw also described being called a year prior and encouraged to run for superintendent by then-state Assemblymember Bill Essayli, who is now the lead federal prosecutor in Los Angeles and one of Trump\u2019s strongest local allies.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I kind of laughed,\u201d she said. \u201cHa ha. Me? The soccer mom? Really?\u201d She said she told Essayli that she had to talk to God and her family. Essayli urged her to decide quickly.<\/p>\n Despite her humble, \u201cwho, me?\u201d persona on the campaign trail, Shaw argues that her message resonates with parents in both parties. Shaw said she would use the superintendent position as a bully pulpit to expand that base beyond party lines and fight what she sees as the state\u2019s failed liberal schooling policies from within. She also would challenge in court the new state law that transferred most of the post\u2019s authority to an appointee of the governor.<\/p>\n Morgan Polikoff, a USC education professor, said that to win, Shaw would have to \u201cdramatically broaden her base, inviting people who aren\u2019t animated primarily by anti-LGBTQ animus to vote for her.\u201d <\/p>\n Barrera, meanwhile, a senior aide to current state Supt. Tony Thurmond, represented the California Department of Education at a recent event held by the statewide LGBTQ+ group Equality California, where school districts were rated on their LGBTQ+ policies and resources. San Diego Unified received a high rating, while Chino Valley did not participate in the voluntary analysis.<\/p>\n Tony Hoang, executive director of Equality California, has described Shaw as a threat to LGBTQ+ students and endorsed Barrera as a candidate who has spent his career \u201cadvancing policies that make schools safer and more inclusive.\u201d<\/p>\n Lance Christensen, of the conservative California Policy Center, disagreed. He said Barrera \u201cwill continue to be the servant and mouthpiece of the CTA,\u201d while Shaw \u201crepresents a return to common sense, or better yet, good sense \u2014 because she\u2019s speaking to basic issues of education policy that have been ignored for far too long.\u201d<\/p>\n Barrera acknowledged his primary win over the other Democratic challengers was largely thanks to the CTA, which he said \u201cmade all the difference.\u201d But he also credited a \u201clong partnership\u201d with San Diego educators and a record of believing in public education.<\/p>\n Shaw consolidated conservative Republican support in the primary, in which she finished first, with her campaign raising $399,000. <\/p>\n Barrera\u2019s campaign collected $274,000 in primary contributions. Since the primary, Barrera\u2019s campaign has raised at least $340,000, compared with $104,000 for Shaw.<\/p>\n However, it is in independent expenditures \u2014 spending by outside groups on behalf of political candidates \u2014 that Barrera has the financial leg up on Shaw. Already considered the likely fall winner because he no longer will be splitting the state\u2019s sizable liberal vote with other Democratic candidates, Barrera also has benefited from the CTA\u2019s massive spending covering the cost of mailers, text message campaigns and TV, radio, newspaper and digital ads, among other things. <\/p>\n Shaw: Soccer mom to MAGA warrior<\/p>\n Shaw, a 44-year-old Chino native and mother who has worked in fitness training and photography, said pandemic school closures and mask and vaccine mandates she opposed prompted her to show up to school board meetings, confront officials and challenge school policies in court. \u201cI\u2019m relentless. I don\u2019t let go,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n In November 2022, she was elected to the Chino Valley Unified school board, part of a small wave of evangelical Christians and far-right candidates to win seats across the state<\/a> that cycle, and quickly became a go-to conservative voice<\/a> on education issues.<\/p>\n Shaw has sidestepped concerns about immigration agents<\/a> targeting schools as an issue outside of a school district\u2019s jurisdiction. She also has derided the influence of unions in the education sector. And she lambasted efforts by California Democrats to oppose<\/a> \u201cschool choice,\u201d calling charter schools, homeschooling and other \u201calternative learning models\u201d critical \u201clifelines\u201d for families.<\/p>\n Shaw also became laser-focused on LGBTQ+ issues, challenging state laws that allow transgender students to participate in athletics and use school facilities in line with their gender identity. She also fought a state privacy policy that dissuaded school administrators from informing the parents of children who change their gender presentation or pronouns at school, and backed bans on library books with passages deemed sexually obscene. Critics have said the policy targets LGBTQ+ books, which Shaw denied.<\/p>\n Separately, Shaw has rallied her followers online to protest transgender teen athletes, including Jurupa Valley High School track star AB Hernandez.<\/a> Shaw has showed up at track meets to protest Hernandez\u2019s participation \u2014 which Hernandez\u2019s mother has called threatening.<\/p>\n Shaw also has filed federal civil rights complaints on behalf of and helped draft complaints for cisgender high school athletes \u2014 including some of Hernandez\u2019s teammates \u2014 who, she said, told her they were unhappy with sharing races, podiums and athletic facilities with transgender peers.<\/p>\n