A new school year begins for California students this week with fresh data for administrators. Stanford University released an 18-month study of California’s K-12 public school system on May 7, 2026, with contributions from 112 researchers. The project, led by...

A first grader reads an entire page on her own after months of specialized instruction. A middle school student with autism delivers his first classroom presentation. These moments are not medical breakthroughs, they are educational ones.   Unfortunately, our history...

Students returning to school may not have noticed it.  As the years pass, they hang out with the same friends or play on the same sports teams. But something’s been changing.  There are fewer students.  While charter school enrollment in...

As Rudy Garcia neared completion of his associate’s degree in cybersecurity at Moorpark College, he was excited to learn of the Ventura County community college’s plans to offer a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity and network operations.  The father of four...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation July 10 that will transfer executive control of the California Department of Education from the state’s elected superintendent of public instruction to a commissioner appointed by the governor.  Assembly Bill 181 places the department’s...

The number of kids with disabilities there has been nearly cut in half. It’s the largest decline of any California school district with at least 100 students with disabilities. But Del Mar wasn’t the only local district to see declines...

The education news publication EdSource, Wednesday, July 29 at 1p.m, will host a roundtable discussion on the potential expansion of the state’s community colleges to offer baccalaureate degrees to students in California. The discussion will be hosted online. Register here...

https://www.latimes.com/california/newsletter/2026-07-13/chabria-monCalifornia and across the country has been somewhat distressing.  Along with claims that Americans are becoming illiterate, here in the Golden State there are worries that even the highest-achieving students aren’t prepared for our universities, and a study shows backsliding...

The role and responsibilities of the state’s top elected education official will be changing as part of a dramatic overhaul of education governance in California.   The State Superintendent of Public Instruction will no longer oversee the California Department of...

Whoever California’s next governor is, he’s going to be more powerful than Gavin Newsom.  With one foot out the door, Newsom just convinced lawmakers to approve a radical bureaucratic reimagining that consolidates power in the governor’s office.   Starting in...

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill that will vastly reshape the role of the state superintendent of public instruction, an elected position that currently oversees the California Department of Education.  Instead of leading the department, the new position will...

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced he has signed legislation to implement long-standing recommendations to strengthen California’s education governance system to better support its nearly 10,000 schools and approximately six million students. The legislation — Assembly Bill 181 by...

California voters this year are set to decide who will serve as the state’s next superintendent of public instruction. But with campaign season already underway, the job the two contenders are running for is about to change drastically.  Starting next...

For decades, the teachers association and other education unions have easily gotten their favored candidates for state superintendent elected. And those chosen officials have faithfully echoed the unions’ position that the key to increasing outcomes is allocating more money.  School...

California lawmakers secured billions of dollars for public schools, community colleges, special education students and more in the 2026-2027 state budget.  In all, the budget included $128 billion of the $350 billion budget package for a myriad of education priorities...

The job of state superintendent is changing. NBC 7’s Shandel Menezes explains why both candidates vying for the seat are not happy about it.

A highly contentious move to revamp the California Department of Education has passed the state legislature, despite widespread opposition among education leaders across the state.  Assembly Bill 181 was crafted by Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state legislature to shift...

Learning Lab Director Lark Park interviewed Dr. Michael W. Kirst in a wide ranging conversation–from how education policymaking has changed over the decades, to whether UC should bring back standardized testing, to why the professional development of teachers, the structure...

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said he first learned last year via text message that Gov. Gavin Newsom intended to overhaul his office. Newsom teased last January a plan to shift control of the state Department of Education to...

California’s Department of Education will soon be under the control of the governor’s office, drastically changing the role of the next state superintendent, who will be elected in November.  The change, pushed through by Gov. Gavin Newsom as part of...

One of the offices on the November ballot is California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction. That elected official has led the state’s Department of Education and made sure policies passed by lawmakers are implemented.  Next year, that will change.  Under an...

The just-approved state budget strips authority from the elected state superintendent of public instruction, transferring power in January to an appointee of the governor, dramatically changing the oversight and management of a public school system serving more than 6 million...

Legislation for the big shift — moving the California Department of Education from the State Superintendent of Public Instruction’s control to a new chief executive of education under the governor — passed the Legislature Monday, though barely.  With 15 lawmakers...

A new California law creates an appointed education commissioner, shifting many powers from the elected state superintendent.