Election 2026 · State of California

California Superintendent of Public Instruction

Published September 29, 2026 · Updated October 2, 2026

Richard Barrera and Sonja Shaw are the candidates for California Superintendent of Public Instruction on the November 3, 2026 ballot.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction is a nonpartisan statewide office. Under a law signed in July 2026 (AB 181), the winner of this election will no longer run the state Department of Education; an Education Commissioner appointed under the State Board of Education takes over that job in January 2027. The Superintendent becomes an independent statewide voice for students and families, with a vote on the State Board of Education and seats on the UC, CSU and community college governing boards.

Summary by CityHallPass, not the official text or legal advice. The official text controls: LA County's official election information.

What it means for the City of LA

Los Angeles Unified, with 353,065 students in 2025-26, educates about 7% of the state's public school students. From January 2027 the Superintendent votes on the State Board of Education, which sets statewide policy for LAUSD and every other district, and sits on the UC Regents, the CSU Trustees and the community colleges' Board of Governors. Those boards govern UCLA, the Cal State campuses in Los Angeles and the statewide system that includes the Los Angeles Community College District.

Primary results, June 2, 2026

10 candidates; no one won a majority, so the top two advanced. Total votes: 7,675,588. In Los Angeles County, Shaw had 18.5%, Barrera 16.7%, Henderson 14.9%, and Rendon and Lara 10.4% each. Certified by the Secretary of State in the Statement of Vote. Party preference is not on the ballot for this office. Certified results

The candidates

The job

What changes in January 2027. In July 2026 Gov. Newsom signed AB 181, a budget trailer bill. It moves management of the Department of Education from the elected Superintendent to an Education Commissioner appointed under the State Board of Education, starting when the new Governor and Superintendent take office in January 2027 (Office of the Governor; KQED). KQED reports the commissioner replaces the Superintendent as director of education on Jan. 15 and must recommend further changes by October 2027 (KQED). The LA Times described the commissioner as appointed by the governor (LA Times).

What the winner will do.

• Serve as an independent statewide voice for students, families and educators, and advise the Legislature and Governor (Official Voter Information Guide; Office of the Governor).
• Vote on the State Board of Education, which grows from 11 to 13 members, and sit on the UC Regents, the CSU Trustees and the community colleges’ board (KQED).

Budget and staff. The 2026-27 budget creates a separate Office of the Superintendent with 12 positions and $1.5 million, moved out of the Department of Education (2026-27 state budget, Office of the Superintendent). The department itself, with 2,645 positions, runs about $126 billion in programs, mostly Prop. 98 money passed through to schools (2026-27 state budget, Education). The state’s total TK-12 funding in the 2026 Budget Act is $151.4 billion (Office of the Governor).

Facts that shape the job now, for Los Angeles.

• Test scores. In spring 2025, 48.8% of California students met the English standard and 37.3% the math standard. LAUSD reached 46.5% and 36.8%, its best under the current tests and above its pre-pandemic level (LA Times). Only 8.5% of LAUSD students tested proficient in science (LA Times).
• Enrollment. LAUSD enrollment fell 4.5% in 2025-26, to 353,065 students. LA County public schools lost 32,953 students, 44% of the statewide drop; the LA Times linked the losses in part to immigration enforcement (LA Times).
• Budget fight. When the Governor released his May 2026 budget revision, the California Teachers Association estimated that $3.9 billion owed to schools was being withheld (LA Times).

Records

Richard Barrera

San Diego Unified board, 2008 to now. He was reelected in 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024 and is now board president (SCNG questionnaire). San Diego Unified is the state’s second-largest district (LA Times).

• Bonds. San Diego voters have approved school bonds totaling $11.5 billion since he joined the board, most recently in 2022 (Orange County Register).
• Staff housing. In January 2026 the district announced nearly 3,000 affordable units for educators and staff in the pipeline at six sites. Gregg Robinson, president of the San Diego County Office of Education, said Barrera “single-handedly created” the effort (Orange County Register).
• Results he cites. He cites record graduation rates and first place in reading, tied for first in math, among large urban districts on the Nation’s Report Card (Bay Area News Group questionnaire).
• Gender identity. A San Diego Unified form lets students choose the name and pronouns on report cards, diplomas and rosters, which parental-rights activist Amy Reichart criticized (Orange County Register).

Department of Education, 2024 to now. He is a senior policy advisor to Thurmond (LA Times).

Ethics and enforcement records. In 2020 the FPPC warned him for filing late the short campaign form (Form 470) required for his San Diego Unified race in the March 2020 primary; he filed soon after being contacted and had no prior violations (FPPC warning letter, No. 2020-00177). No other FPPC actions, and no Los Angeles City Ethics Commission or FEC enforcement records, name him. He is not a lawyer on the State Bar’s rolls (searched Sept. 30, 2026).

Sonja Shaw

Chino Valley Unified board, December 2022 to now, as president.

• Parent notification. In July 2023 Chino Valley became the first California district to require staff to tell parents when a student asks to be treated as a different gender. The state sued the district, and a San Bernardino County judge barred most of the policy. Citing recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, the district is seeking to reinstate it (LA Times). The state’s suit was filed against the district, not against her personally (KQED).
• Library books. In October 2023 the board adopted a policy that lets any community member ask to remove a library book, with removal within three days (LA Times).
• Other policies. The board banned classroom flags other than U.S., California and military flags, filed federal complaints against the state over transgender student policies, and backed prayer at board meetings (Orange County Register).
• Test scores. The Orange County Register’s editorial board wrote that Chino Valley outperforms the state and its own 2018-19 results on state tests (Orange County Register editorial). Shaw says a Stanford University study named the district a model for post-COVID recovery (Bay Area News Group questionnaire).

Ethics and enforcement records. No public enforcement actions were found in FPPC (cases, complaints or documents), Los Angeles City Ethics Commission or FEC records (searched Sept. 30, 2026; FPPC case search). She is not a lawyer on the State Bar’s rolls.

Where they stand

Issues come from the LA Times candidate survey, the Southern California News Group questionnaires (Barrera, Shaw), the Bay Area News Group questionnaires (Barrera, Shaw), and Mercury News and KQED reporting.

On the other ballot measures

City of Los Angeles and County measures on the same ballot are left out; neither candidate took a position on them.

Source: ballot arguments in the Official Voter Information Guide (neither candidate signed one) and the candidates’ ballot statements (Official Voter Information Guide).

Endorsements

Richard Barrera

• Party: California Democratic Party (Official Voter Information Guide; party’s Aug 2, 2026 list).
• Unions: California Teachers Association, California Federation of Teachers, California School Employees Association, United Administrators of Southern California (the LAUSD principals’ union), California Professional Firefighters and school police officers (Official Voter Information Guide).
• Officials: Superintendent Tony Thurmond (Mercury News); former Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, one of the Democrats who trailed in the primary (LA Times).
• Organizations: Planned Parenthood (Official Voter Information Guide).
• Newspapers: None found.

Sonja Shaw

• Party: California Republican Party (party’s endorsement page, checked Sept 30, 2026).
• Officials and candidates: Steve Hilton, now the Republican nominee for Governor, and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who also ran for governor, both before the primary (Mercury News, May 25).
• Groups and activists: Lance Christensen of the California Policy Center and Amy Reichart of Restore San Diego (Orange County Register).
• Newspapers: the Orange County Register (Southern California News Group) editorial board in the primary, on April 30, 2026 (Orange County Register).

Polls

No public poll of the Barrera-Shaw runoff was found. Before the primary, a Public Policy Institute of California survey in April 2026 found 32% of likely voters undecided in this race, the Mercury News reported (Mercury News). Candidate figures from that survey were not available.

Money

Source: Form 460 reports for Richard Barrera for Superintendent of Public Instruction 2026 and Shaw for Superintendent of Public Instruction 2026, from the Cal-Access data export downloaded Sep 29, 2026. Contributions include non-monetary gifts. The contribution limit for Superintendent is $9,800 per election from a person and $19,600 from a small contributor committee (FPPC).

Who is giving

Method: itemized contributions (Schedules A and C) plus late-contribution reports. A donor is a normalized name plus ZIP code. “Maximum” means at least one gift at the $9,800 per-election limit. A ZIP counts as City of Los Angeles if at least half its area is inside the City.

Source: itemized contributions in the Form 460 and 497 reports of Richard Barrera for Superintendent of Public Instruction 2026 and Shaw for Superintendent of Public Instruction 2026, from the Cal-Access data export downloaded Sep 29, 2026.

Richard Barrera

Unions and public-employee groups gave about half (49.0%). The California Teachers Association and United Domestic Workers gave $39,200 each for both elections. PACE of California School Employees, PORAC, SEIU California, AFSCME, the school administrators’ PAC, the California Federation of Teachers, two carpenters’ councils and Laborers Local 89 gave $19,600 each. The two largest individual donors gave $19,600 each. Almost all of his money comes from outside Los Angeles County (93.0% from elsewhere in California). Clusters: 16 people at Iftin Charter School in San Diego gave $3,350 on May 30 to June 1, 2026; smaller groups of San Diego Unified and Sweetwater Union High School District employees gave in September 2025 (Cal-Access).

Sonja Shaw

More than three quarters of Shaw’s money (77.9%) comes from individuals, and most donors (65.1%) gave under $250. Unitemized small gifts added another $41,860. LA County outside the City gave 36.1%. Six individual donors gave $94,400 in total. The largest committee donors: the Yuba County Republican Party ($21,840), Carl DeMaio for State Assembly 2026 ($10,515) and Supporters of Chad Bianco for Sheriff ($9,800). No unions gave (Cal-Access).

Outside spending

Source: independent expenditure reports (Forms 460 Schedule D, 496) on Cal-Access: CTA IE Committee; Families & Teachers United; Educate the Future; United Domestic Workers IE PAC; California Teachers Association; Democratic Party of Orange County; Reform Local Government PAC.

All of the CTA money was spent from April 22 to May 30, before the primary (Cal-Access). Funders. The CTA committee has raised $7.03 million since 2025, all in unitemized gifts under $100 (Cal-Access). The charter schools committee took $200,000 from the Charter Public Schools PAC (Cal-Access). Educate the Future’s two largest donors were individuals who gave $10,000 and $5,000 (Cal-Access). Reform Local Government PAC raised $558,254, including $113,793 in small gifts, La Playa LLC ($49,000) and one individual ($40,000) (Cal-Access).

Key moments

Debates and forums

• Online candidate forum, spring 2026. Candidates criticized Newsom’s governance proposal (Mercury News). The host and video were not identified.
• No Barrera-Shaw debate was found.

Events

• AB 181 moves the Department of Education out of the office (July 2026).

  • What happened: Newsom signed the change as part of the budget; the LA Times and KQED reported it takes the department away from the next Superintendent (KQED; LA Times). CTA President David Goldberg called it “undemocratic” (KQED).
  • Shaw called it “unconstitutional” (KQED).
  • Barrera said changing the office has been put to voters and rejected several times (KQED).

• $5.1 million from the teachers union (April to May 2026).

  • What happened: the CTA’s committee spent $5.1 million for Barrera before the primary (CTA IE Committee on Cal-Access; LA Times). The LA Times reported CTA has backed the winner in the last three races (LA Times); the Orange County Register reported no candidate has won without CTA’s endorsement since 1982 (Orange County Register).
  • Shaw supporter Lance Christensen predicted she would face “tens of millions of dollars from the entrenched left” (LA Times). No response from Shaw herself was found.
  • Barrera acknowledged the union’s support made the difference in the primary (LA Times).