Supporters of the change argue the current model splits responsibility across multiple agencies, making it difficult to hold anyone accountable when schools struggle. They believe placing greater authority under the governor will create a more coordinated education system with clearer lines of responsibility for policy, funding, and oversight.

Opponents accuse Newsom and Democratic lawmakers of circumventing voters by consolidating power in the executive branch without first putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

“California’s constitutional architecture deliberately established an independent schools chief to ensure that public education answers directly to the voters,” a coalition of teachers unions wrote in a June 27 letter opposing the measure. “Replacing an elected constitutional officer with a partisan bureaucrat serving strictly at the pleasure of the executive branch breaks that model, permanently muting the public voice when democratic transparency matters most.”

The coalition warned that the consequences go beyond education policy, arguing the measure establishes a precedent that could weaken other independently elected offices in the future.

“If executive control over a constitutional office can be achieved by statutory maneuver whenever the votes happen to align in a single session, then no elected check is secure,” the group wrote. “Today, the target is the Superintendent of Public Instruction; the principle, once established, is available against any independent office a future executive finds inconvenient.”

Rather than asking voters to amend the state constitution, lawmakers left the superintendent’s office intact while shifting nearly all of its operational authority elsewhere. The proposal also bypassed the traditional committee process, advancing instead as a budget trailer bill tied to Newsom’s spending plan.

Beginning in January, nearly all of the superintendent’s responsibilities will move to a newly created education commissioner, who will be appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate. The commissioner will oversee education policy, administer state and federal funding, and help shape California’s education budget, giving the new governor of California more influence over the direction of the nation’s largest public school system.

The elected superintendent’s role will become largely advisory. Under the new law, the office is described as an “independently elected nonpartisan voice for the public interest” that will report to the legislature on the condition of California’s education system based on statewide outreach, identifying emerging challenges and broader trends rather than exercising direct administrative authority.

DOJ LAUNCHES LAWSUIT OVER CALIFORNIA’S GLOCK BAN AFTER WARNING

The restructuring comes just four months before voters choose the state’s next superintendent of public instruction, though much of the office’s authority will be transferred to the governor-appointed education commissioner before the winner takes office.

The November election features Republican Sonja Shaw, who led the primary election, and Democrat Richard Barrera. Both candidates have criticized the overhaul, arguing it fundamentally alters the position they are seeking. Shaw called it a “blatant power grab” that “silences voters.”