California's public education system is facing a crisis with declining test scores in English and Math, exacerbated by pandemic-related closures. The upcoming election for State Superintendent of Public Instruction is crucial, with candidates largely influenced by teachers unions, raising concerns about prioritizing student needs over special interests. The article highlights the candidates' stances on key issues like school choice, Prop 13, and union influence.
California’s education system should be the envy of the nation. Instead, it is a cautionary tale of what happens when special interests and captive politicians direct the system to serve everyone but the students.
In the last school year, only 48.82% of students met the state’s English and Language Arts standards and just 37.3% could do so in math. That’s down from 2018-19, indicating the lingering impacts of the coronavirus school closures. This all has trickle-down effects, as captured by a recent report out of the University of California, San Diego showing many incoming students with high grade point averages need remedial math classes. This is a travesty.
And yet, we see an education system constantly threatened by teachers union strikes and state and local leaders inclined to coddle the unions instead of standing up for the students. With the State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond thankfully termed out and the governor wanting to scrap the post as an elected position, this could be one of the last times Californians cast a vote for the position.
The teachers unions have split support with San Diego school board member Richard Barrera, who advises Thurmond and thinks he’s doing great, and Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, who has pushed legislation against school choice. Both would essentially be puppets of whatever the teachers unions want. There’s former Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, who to his credit previously supported teacher tenure reforms proposed by then-Assemblymember Shirley Weber and spoke frankly about the influence of the unions. There’s former state Sen.
Josh Newman, who to his credit drew the ire of a union representing UC workers when he opposed a union-backed proposal to block contracting at the UCs. Barrera, Muratsuchi and Rendon support changes to Proposition 13 to raise more tax revenue from commercial properties. Newman does not support such changes, arguing that, “Reopening Prop. 13 would also be politically divisive and economically disruptive at a moment when California families and businesses are already under significant pressure.
” And then there’s Sonja Shaw, who currently serves as the Chino Valley Unified board president. Chino Valley Unified outperforms the state and now outperforms where it was in 2018-19 on state assessments, which she credits to the district focusing on education, not ideology.
“We made a clear decision: put academics first, restore trust with parents, and get politics out of the classroom,” she explained. “We can’t fix what we refuse to measure. We need clear standards, honest assessments, and early identification of students who are falling behind.
Then we get them the help they need, with proven, evidence-based instruction. ” Shaw is clear-eyed about the need for school choice, for saying “No” to special interests and for putting students first. Pouring more money into a failing system won’t work. That’s why unlike most of her opponents, she’s arguing for systemic reform, not higher taxes to fund a broken system.
As she explained: “I support teachers. No question. They work hard, they care about kids, and they deserve to be treated fairly. But the unions, especially here in California, aren’t the same thing as the teachers in the classroom.
Too often, they’re focused on politics, campaign spending, and protecting the system that gives them clout and influence. You see it in the policies. It’s difficult-to-impossible to remove a consistently underperforming teacher. Real accountability gets pushed aside.
Reforms like expanding school choice? Blocked. This results in kids getting stuck. The same systems, the same outcomes, and not much room for anything new that might actually help them.
” That’s the sort of common sense Californians need to hear from their state superintendent of public instruction. While we think Rendon and Newman would be preferable to Barrera and Muratsuchi, and would certainly be more competent than Thurmond, they fundamentally wouldn’t rock the boat and wouldn’t say what needs to be said. While we don’t agree with Shaw on everything, given the choices at hand, she’s the only one who will say what needs to be said.
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