John Fensterwald And Emma Gallegos
October 6, 2026
It’s clear what the next state superintendent will no longer do upon assuming office in January: run the California Department of Education. A new education commissioner appointed by the next governor will take on that responsibility under legislation Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in June.
What’s unclear is what the next state superintendent will actually do. Whoever wins next month’s election for the job — either Sonja Shaw, president of the Chino Valley Unified school board, or Richard Barrera, president of the San Diego Unified’s school board — will spend the next four years creating a new job template for future state superintendents.
Four times between 1928 and 1968, voters turned down opportunities to get rid of the superintendent position altogether. Assembly Bill 181 took a different tack: It consolidated responsibility for managing the education department and overseeing school improvement under a new education commissioner. It tacitly acknowledged that the elected state superintendent would remain an independent voice, free to roam California critiquing the state of education, advocating for positions they ran on and lobbying the Legislature to adopt them.