Newsom moves to reshape who runs California’s schools under budget plan

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday unveiled a sweeping proposal to overtake how California’s schooling system is ruled, calling for structural modifications that he mentioned would shift oversight of the Division of Schooling and redefine the function of the state’s elected faculties chief.

The proposal, which is a part of Newsom’s state funds plan that shall be launched Friday, would unify the policymaking State Board of Schooling with the division, which is chargeable for finishing up these insurance policies. The governor mentioned the change would higher align schooling efforts from early childhood by means of school.

“California can not postpone reforms which have been really useful frequently for a century,” Newsom mentioned in an announcement. “These essential reforms will carry better accountability, readability, and coherence to how we serve our college students and faculties.”

Few particulars had been supplied about how the function of the state superintendent of public instruction would change, past a better deal with fostering coordination and aligning schooling coverage.

The modifications would require approval from state lawmakers, who shall be within the state Capitol on Thursday for Newsom’s final State of the State speech in his closing yr as governor.

The proposal would implement suggestions from a 2002 report by the state Legislature, titled “California’s Grasp Plan for Schooling,” which described the state’s Okay-12 governance as fragmented and “with overlapping roles that typically function in battle with each other, to the detriment of the tutorial providers provided to college students.” Newsom’s workplace mentioned comparable considerations have been raised repeatedly since 1920 and had been echoed once more in a December 2025 report by analysis middle Coverage Evaluation for California Schooling.

“The sobering actuality of California’s schooling system is that too few faculties can now present the circumstances by which the State can pretty ask college students to study to the very best requirements, not to mention put together themselves to satisfy their future studying wants,” the Legislature’s 2002 report acknowledged. These most harmed are sometimes low-income college students and college students of colour, the report added.

“California’s schooling governance system is complicated and too typically creates challenges for college leaders,” Edgar Zazueta, government director of the Assn. of California College Directors, mentioned in an announcement supplied by Newsom’s workplace. “As duties and calls for on faculties proceed to extend, educators want governance methods which might be designed to higher assist optimistic scholar outcomes.”

The present funds allotted $137.6 billion for schooling from transitional kindergarten by means of the twelfth grade — the very best per-pupil funding stage in state historical past — and Newsom’s workplace mentioned his proposal is meant to make sure these investments translate into extra constant assist and improved outcomes statewide.

“For many years the fragmented and inefficient construction overseeing our public schooling system has hindered our college students’ skill to succeed and thrive,” Ted Lempert, president of advocacy group Youngsters Now, mentioned in an announcement supplied by the governor’s workplace. “Main reform is crucial, and we’re thrilled that the Governor is tackling this subject to enhance our youngsters’ schooling.”