California education leaders sound alarm over Newsom’s ‘brazen power grab’ stripping superintendent position
Californians working in the state's education sector are warning against what they describe as an "undemocratic power play" by Gov. Gavin Newsom to strip authority from the state's superintendent of Public Instruction.
Assembly Bill 181, passed as a budget trailer bill for the 2026–27 fiscal year, shifts day-to-day managerial power from the state superintendent to a newly created position: the education commissioner. Unlike the independently elected superintendent, the new commissioner will be appointed by and report directly to the governor. The structural overhaul was finalized as part of budget negotiations between legislative leaders and Newsom.
"As a teacher and voter, I am completely against this undemocratic power play," Steve Campos, who taught for more than 30 years in California, told Fox News Digital.
Newsom on Thursday delivered remarks on the day of the bill signing for their budget for public education, noting that organizations have been advocating for "change" for decades.
"As it relates to governance reform, change has its enemies. I'm for change. I'm not arguing for the status quo," Newsom said. "I couldn't be more proud that the legislature and the people of the state demanded a new approach, and I was proud to attach my signature to a new approach."
Newsom touted the changes earlier this year, saying in a statement, "California can no longer postpone reforms that have been recommended regularly for a century. So we are going to modernize the governance system by unifying the policy-making State Board with the Department of Education that implements those policies. And we’re empowering the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to help align our education policies from early childhood through college. These critical reforms will bring greater accountability, clarity, and coherence to how we serve our students and schools."
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Campos, who currently serves as a member of the Perris Union High School District board of trustees and teaches physical education, voiced deep concern over the timing of the legislation.
"As a school board member, I am extremely disappointed in the fact that he is trying to take away the will of millions of voters who are parental rights supporters," Campos said. "Californians deserve the opportunity to elect someone who supports their values statewide, since the passage of AB 1955 took away some of their local control. The governor was also in support of taking away their local voice through AB 1955. My hope is that the governor’s plan will be legally challenged and overturned."
Sonja Shaw, the school board president for the Chino Valley Unified School District, echoed those frustrations. Speaking to Fox News Digital, Shaw accused Newsom of orchestrating "the most brazen power grab in California history, bypassing the voters and using a backdoor budget bill to strip authority from the independently elected State Superintendent and hand it to a political appointee."
Shaw is currently running to become the state's next superintendent. She advanced from the state's top-two primary election in June and is set to face off against Richard Barrera in the November general election. The conservative firebrand has gained national attention for championing local parental notification policies, which require schools to disclose a student’s transgender identity to their parents.
Shaw vowed to challenge AB 181 in court, arguing that it violates the state’s constitution.
"Californians have rejected this idea at the ballot box four separate times because they believe the person overseeing our schools should be accountable to voters, not to political special interests," Shaw said. "The timing isn’t accidental. They know that when I’m elected, I will expose years of failure and mismanagement — so they’re trying to change the rules before the election."
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Campos believes Newsom’s tactical pivot is targeted entirely at weakening Shaw's potential impact if she wins the office.
"This has been tried before and is a desperate move by the governor to not allow the people of California to elect Sonja Shaw as the next superintendent of Public Instruction," Campos told Fox News Digital. "The governor fears that she will bring out millions to the polls in the midterm election this November and lose the stronghold on this elected position, as well as the governorship. This desperate move is also being opposed by the California Teachers Association and current SPI, Tony Thurmond."
Though conservative advocates worry about a progressive hold on the state executive office, Thurmond himself will not be on the November ballot for governor; the current schools chief ran a progressive gubernatorial campaign but failed to advance past the crowded June primary. The race to replace the term-limited Newsom will instead be decided between Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton.
Laura Markin, a Southern California high school English teacher with 20 years of classroom experience, called the policy alignment "wrong" and agreed that the legislative maneuver seems designed to muzzle conservative momentum.
"There's a lot of unpopular positions that Tony [Thurmond] was supporting over the years, which led to the rise of Sonja [Shaw], and now Gavin Newsom is reacting to that. And I think it's appalling," Markin told Fox News Digital, while also criticizing the lack of public transparency surrounding AB [181].
"This was done by Gavin Newsom without the input from his constituents," Markin added, noting the bill bypassed standard public comment layout. "He did this to strip it of power. The position still exists from what I understand, and is mostly going to be a committee position — which is a waste of taxpayer dollars to have somebody elected to a position that is just going to be sitting on committees."
Lance Christensen, a former candidate for state superintendent who now serves as the VP of Government Affairs & Education Policy at the California Policy Center, describes himself as an "extreme localist" who favors empowering local school boards over expanding Sacramento's reach.
"Let's be honest about what's really driving this: they're afraid of losing the superintendent's office to a sincere parents' rights advocate in Sonja Shaw," Christensen told Fox News Digital. "If legislators actually want to neutralize the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the ethical path is a constitutional amendment to eliminate the office and put it before voters. But that won't happen, because it's been tried before, and it always fails."
The California Department of Education didn't immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
However, in an interview with ABC10, current superintendent Thurmond admitted he heavily disagreed with how the changes were forced through the legislature.
"I don't think it's a bad thing, in and of itself; whenever you want a governor to be directly involved with education, that's a good thing, and most states operate in the same way," he told the station.
"Here's what is a concern: the manner in which it's being done," Thurmond continued. "The state superintendent position is approved by the voters, and I think that's the method in which the position should have been changed. And short of doing that, what's happened is they've created an extra layer of government, so now you have an elected state superintendent who will have very little to do as a result of these changes. And now you'll have this new position that will also be in place."