By admin 
Two local school board presidents, Richard Barrera and Sonja Shaw, will face off in the November election for the position of state superintendent of public instruction — a role that has transformed significantly since the candidates first launched their campaigns.
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Formerly in charge of running the California Department of Education and executing the state Board of Education’s policies, the nonpartisan office was reduced to an oversight and evaluation role through legislation approved by Gov. Gavin Newsom in July. While the superintendent will serve as the “independently elected, nonpartisan voice for the public interest in the governance of the state’s educational system,” control of the Department of Education will shift to a new, governor-appointed director of education in January.
The position, much like California state auditor, is nonpartisan. That means a party is not listed on the ballot next to their names.
But, Barrera and Shaw, who registered the highest vote percentages in a crowded primary, have polar opposite political leanings and very different priorities for the state schools role. For Republican Party-backed Shaw, not allowing transgender athletes to participate in girls’ sports and centralizing parent voices are top of mind. For Democratic Party-backed Barrera, some important goals including protecting California from what he calls “Trump attacks on public education” and investing in educators.
Both agree on a couple of things. They agree the state needs to focus on reading, writing and math for California students. And they are both against recent changes to the role of the superintendent. Still, they have forged ahead in their campaigns to replace outgoing state schools chief Tony Thurmond.
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Who is Richard Barrera?
A first-generation San Diegan whose father emigrated from Colombia, Barrera is the president of the San Diego Unified school board. He has been a trustee there since he was first elected to the position in 2008. He is also a senior policy adviser at the California Department of Education.
Earlier, he worked as a community and labor organizer, including as secretary-treasurer of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, where he led an effort to increase the minimum wage and provide paid sick days to over 200,000 workers. Barrera holds a bachelor’s degree from UC San Diego and a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University.
As a school board member, he said his major achievements include transforming San Diego Unified from a “district in crisis” to one that has high reading and math scores. In the San Diego Unified School District, which serves more than 95,000 students, more than 56% of students met or exceeded the standard in English in the 2024-25 school year. This number stands at 45% in math. Over the last decade, the district has registered about a 10% improvement in both subjects.
In addition, Barrera said he worked to get four school bonds approved to improve campus facilities and pushed earlier this year to build over 2,000 units of housing for teachers as a solution to the state’s ongoing housing crisis. Over the last few years, he says he fought to keep Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers out of schools, stood up for LGBTQ+ students, and ensured students got their vaccines.
In his campaign, Barrera has portrayed himself as a political outsider who would improve wages for teachers, expand transitional kindergarten to cover 3-year-olds, increase oversight of statewide educational funding and track spending outcomes, and help build affordable housing for educators.
“I am proud of what our students have achieved in San Diego and look forward to improving student success across California,” he said in his candidate statement.
Who is Sonja Shaw?
Born and raised in Chino, Shaw has been on the Chino Valley Unified school board since November 2022 and became president in 2023. Before that, she owned and operated two small community businesses: One that provided fitness training to women and another that offered photography services. According to her campaign website, she had never planned to run for office.
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During the COVID-era parental rights movement, as conservative families grew concerned that public schools were becoming hotbeds of leftist indoctrination, she emerged as a major player. As Shaw got more involved in local politics, she became a Republican activist and went on to champion a policy requiring Chino Valley schools to inform parents if their child went by a different name or gender pronouns at school. This brought the district to the center of a major legal and political battle at the state level.
As school board president, Shaw said her major achievement was improving student outcomes. This, she said, the district did by focusing on reading, writing and math, directing resources to classrooms and “protecting girls’ sports and private spaces.”
In the district, which has more than 25,000 students, 62% of students met or exceeded the standard in English in the 2024-25 school year. This percentage was 49.8% in math. In both subjects, the district’s post-pandemic scores have been steadily rising, both before and during Shaw’s school board presidency.
Now, Shaw is campaigning for the state-level role with those same issues as her priorities: banning transgender athletes from girls’ sports, focusing on reading and math, and prioritizing parents’ voices.
“My plan is simple: Restore high academic standards in reading, writing, and math; protect Title IX, ensuring fairness and safety for girls; cut wasteful bureaucracy, and demand fiscal transparency to ensure money reaches classrooms where it belongs, supporting our students and our great teachers,” Shaw said in her candidate statement.
Who is funding the candidates?
In the current election cycle, Barrera’s campaign has received more than $600,000 in contributions. Some of his big donors include the California Teachers Association, the United Domestic Workers of America and the Association of California School Administrators.
Shaw’s campaign has collected more than $500,000 in contributions. Her big donors include the Yuba County Republican Party, conservative developer Don Oliphant and business processing company Global Processing Systems.
Who is endorsing the candidates?
Apart from the California Democratic Party, Barrera has been endorsed by several leading education labor unions. This includes the California Teachers Association, which represents 310,000 educators in the state’s public schools and colleges, and the California School Employees Association, which represents more than 250,000 school support staff.
He also has the support of the California Charter Schools Association, which has historically been at loggerheads with the CTA, and current state schools chief Thurmond.
Shaw, on the other hand, has the strong support of the Republican Party and is part of the party’s Victory ‘26 slate. She was also endorsed by Moms for Liberty, a parental rights advocacy group, and the California Rifle and Pistol Association, a nonprofit that defends gun rights.
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Shaw also has the support of Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton.