Shaw, Barrera emerge as front-runners in California superintendent race

This story was originally published by EdSource. Sign up for their daily newsletter.

With millions of ballots still to be counted in California, Chino Valley Unified school board President Sonja Shaw has a clear lead in the state superintendent of public instruction primary with 24.9% of the vote, followed by San Diego Unified school board President Richard Barrera with 18.9% of the vote. 

None of the other candidates have more than 10% of the vote at this point.

Although all the polling places have reported, it’s not over yet. The top two candidates moving on to the Nov. 3 general election won’t be decided until all the mail-in ballots and provisional ballots are counted. In a state with 23 million registered voters, the process could take up to 30 days, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

The late votes are likely to lean Democrat, as they have historically made up the majority of the mail-in voters in the state. This year, that might be even more true, as many Democrats held on to their ballots until a clear Democratic leader emerged in the governor’s race.

The two candidates at the front of the pack for the state superintendent of public instruction position agree that student test scores are too low and that the proposed restructuring of the California Department of Education is a bad idea, but they disagree about almost everything else.

Shaw, who notoriously had state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond ejected from a Chino Valley Unified school board meeting, wants to end California policies prohibiting school staff from disclosing a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity. She also wants to prohibit transgender students from participating in girls’ sports.

Barrera, a senior policy adviser at the state Department of Education, disagreed with Shaw’s position during an April EdSource forum, saying the laws protect LGBTQ+ students. Barrera also would like more public funding for studentsupport and to help districts recruit and retain teachers. 

There wasn’t much excitement around the superintendent’s race until late April when outside organizations began spending to support their preferred candidates. 

A voter survey released in early April found that none of the 10 candidates for superintendent of public instruction had more than 10% of support among likely voters. About a third of the voters surveyed said they didn’t know who they would vote for in the race.

When education unions began to spend in the race, they did not coalesce behind one candidate. The California Teachers Association’s independent expenditure committee spent $5 million on the Barrera campaign. The California Federation of Teachers committee spent $200,000, and a political action committee for the California School Employees Association spent $175,000 on the Al Muratsuchi campaign; while a political action committee for the Service Employees International Union spent $250,000 on the Anthony Rendon campaign.