Education is not a central issue in California’s crowded governor’s race, but the candidates addressing it offer sharply different visions, from expanding school funding and free college, to stricter teacher accountability and restrictions on transgender students in sports. Lupita Cortez Alcalá, executive director of Stanford-based research center Policy Analysis for California (PACE), said she wants candidates to discuss chronic absenteeism, declining enrollment and teacher shortages. Alcalá described chronic absenteeism — defined as being absent for 10% of the school year — as “a system-level crisis,” noting it reached 19.4% in 2024.    She also said candidates should address reports that half of California’s teachers are considering leaving the profession, as well as the budget cuts and school closures that districts are facing because of declining enrollment. “If 50% of teachers are leaving the profession, we are going to have a major problem,” she said.