Four candidates for California's top schools job talk curriculum, careers and more in San Diego
Four candidates for California's top education job spoke in San Diego on Thursday afternoon about issues like curriculum, accountability and career technical education in a friendly forum where they built on each other's comments more than they disagreed.
Responding to wide-ranging questions over a roughly 90-minute panel discussion at San Diego City College, the four - Josh Newman, Gus Mattammal, Nichelle Henderson and Richard Barrera - detailed how they would approach the job of superintendent of public instruction.
Six other candidates didn't attend.
The four participants took different stances on questions concerning curriculum, instruction and accountability, highlighting what they think other states have done well and how California can best support teachers.
Barrera, a longtime member and now president of the San Diego Unified School District's board, said it's important to have the right curriculum but more important to support teachers.
"It is all about creating an environment in our schools where we say our students can learn math, but we need to be organized and we need to be able to teach math," he said. "When teachers see that growth in their students, it's incredibly motivating, and it's building a sense of effectiveness among teachers."
But Newman, a former state lawmaker from Orange County, said California has been "truly negligent" in availing itself of best practices demonstrated within and outside the state.
"There are a number of states - Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia - that have done some really good work over the last several years, including math instruction, math achievement," he said. "We should learn from that."
Henderson said that teachers should be able to teach a curriculum, not teach to tests. She said schools also should get rid of what she called "social promotion."
"We cannot continue to allow students to matriculate from grade to grade, not mastering any of these Common Core or California state standards, and then expect them to go to college and expect them to be able to enter the workforce successfully," she said.
Mattammal stressed holding school districts accountable for how they teach. He said he would give them a year, and if they don't commit to teaching kids to read based on what's known as the science of reading, he would visit them on his "Gus bus" to pressure their leaders.
"I will name the names," he said.
The science of reading refers to an interdisciplinary body of research that studies how kids best learn how to read and write. The method of literacy instruction is often associated with smaller letter sounds, like consonant blends or syllables.
Mattammal also said he believes every middle schooler should take a career technical education class each semester.
In response to a question about career technical education, Barrera said he thinks the most important relationship in improving students' career pathways is the relationship between K-12 schools and the community college system.
He pointed to his own district's relationship with the San Diego Community College District - the event's host - and said it has led to an increase in dual enrollment and career pathways.
"One of the things that we also need to do together collectively is advocate for more bachelor's programs being offered at the community colleges," he added.
That's been a priority of some local community colleges. Mesa College recently got state permission to offer a bachelor's degree program for prospective physical therapy assistants.
The group's discussion of accountability wasn't limited to curriculum.
In response to a question about how different kinds of schools should be held accountable, Newman said charter schools need better transparency and accountability, and that it should be a priority to account for public money allotted for "what is supposed to be an experiment."
The candidates also were asked about parents' involvement in school districts' local control funding formulas and accountability plans - state-mandated plans that every district must update each year to outline how their budget will achieve their goals.
Newman said these plans often become simply a way to check a box.
Henderson said there's a difference between parents' desire and their capacity to engage with their children's schooling.
When she was a teacher, she said, she was sometimes unable to attend her own kids' events. And she said many parents aren't aware of their rights or the options available - for instance, that school site council meetings can be held at different times of day.
"When we start to encourage parents to be engaged in those ways, we will see a much better outcome for our students as well as for our schools in terms of budget allocations," she said.
Barrera said he hopes that voters will grasp the importance of the state superintendent role and the impact it can have on the quality of California schools.
"The opportunity for a state superintendent - especially who's grounded in the realities in the world of local school boards - is to help local districts actually get better and improve," he said.
Mattammal said that although the race has a lot of strong candidates, he thinks he'd be the best, and believes political independence is the most important aspect of the job.
After the forum, Henderson said she hoped voters see that she is approaching the role from the background of a teacher.
"My passion for education is not just to be the superintendent of public instruction," she said.
Newman said after the event that he felt the most important fact to highlight is that California's system of public education is vast, complex and decentralized.
"What's desperately needed in Sacramento at the state level is somebody who can align, organize and equalize the quality of education across the whole state," he said.
The top two vote-getters in the upcoming primary will advance to the general election in the fall.
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This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 9:34 PM.