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State superintendent candidates share their thoughts on teachers’ unions

April 7, 2026

As part of this editorial board’s ongoing election coverage and endorsement process, we reached out to candidates for state superintendent of public instruction on a litany of public policy issues. Here, we present their answers to a question about the influence of teachers’ unions in California.

Richard Barrera, San Diego Unified School board member and advisor at the California Department of Education

Teachers’ unions are a major voice in education policy because educators experience the consequences of policy decisions every day, in classrooms and on campuses. Their involvement has often pushed the state toward stronger investment in public education and toward policies that improve workforce stability.

Unions are not the only voices that matter. Students, families, school leaders, classified staff, and communities also need to be part of education decision-making. But California would not be better off if educators had less influence. In my experience, schools function better when educators are respected and when the people doing the work have a seat at the table. The healthiest policy environment is one where districts, labor, families, and boards solve problems early and honestly, with students at the center and with fiscal discipline.

In San Diego, we were able to make progress because labor-management relationships were treated as a core part of stable governance. That approach produces better outcomes than constant conflict.

Josh Newman, former State Senator/Senior Fellow, UCI School of Social Ecology

Teachers’ unions are the single most powerful political force in California education policy; as proof, the California Teachers Association has backed the winning candidate for State Superintendent in every race for roughly the past thirty years. That’s not an accident, nor has it been without consequences.

There are areas where union advocacy has produced real benefits: stronger due process protections, improved working conditions, and a sustained focus on school funding. But there are also areas where union influence has worked against the interests of students and families: stymieing accountability measures, limiting flexibility for innovation, and in some cases prioritizing institutional preservation over student outcomes. California’s persistently low record on student achievement didn’t happen in a vacuum.

A Superintendent who would be unwilling to say that publicly is a Superintendent who’s not fully doing the job. I’m not the CTA’s endorsed candidate, and I would enter this office with a degree of independence the state hasn’t seen in this office in a very long time. I don’t say that as a boast; I say it because it matters, and because it reflects a pattern, not just a posture.

In the State Senate, I was willing to take positions that put me crosswise with organized labor when I believed the underlying policy was wrong. I voted no on ACA-6, an AFSCME-sponsored constitutional amendment that would have strengthened public employee bargaining power at the direct expense of the University of California’s constitutionally protected autonomy. That vote had consequences. I cast it anyway, because my responsibility was to sound policy and the public interest, not to political convenience.

I’ll apply the same standard, irrespective of the politics, as Superintendent. It means I can work constructively with unions where our interests align: stabilizing the educator workforce, improving preparation and compensation, ensuring safe schools. And it means I’ll be honest and forthright when certain positions create real fiscal or operational problems for districts, or when they limit the flexibility that students and families deserve.

My view is that unions are an important part of the education ecosystem, but so are parents, students, district leaders, classified staff, charter operators, and community partners. No single interest group should have a veto over statewide education policy, and for too long in California, one effectively has.

As Superintendent, my responsibility will be to the 5.8 million students in California’s public schools. I’ll gladly work with anyone who shares that commitment, and I’ll be honest with the public when institutional interests and student interests point in different directions.

Sonja Shaw, president of the Chino Valley Unified School District

I support teachers. No question. They work hard, they care about kids, and they deserve to be treated fairly. But the unions, especially here in California, aren’t the same thing as the teachers in the classroom. Too often, they’re focused on politics, campaign spending, and protecting the system that gives them clout and influence. You see it in the policies. It’s difficult-to-impossible to remove a consistently underperforming teacher. Real accountability gets pushed aside. Reforms like expanding school choice? Blocked. This results in kids getting stuck. The same systems, the same outcomes, and not much room for anything new that might actually help them. We should be backing individual teachers and parents, not letting union leadership call the shots from Sacramento. If we’re serious about reform, it starts with students. Not politics.

Anthony Rendon, former state Assembly Speaker

Teachers are the ones that are closest to students. It makes sense that their representatives collaborate on education policy.

Al Muratsuchi, California Assemblyman

When I served as chair of the Assembly Education Committee, I worked with teachers’ unions as well as education management advocates such as the Association of California School Administrators and the California School Boards Association to make statewide education policies. For example, as Education Committee Chair, I worked for several years to promote evidence-based literacy instruction commonly referred to as the “science of reading.” Teachers’ unions initially opposed legislation promoting the science of reading, but I negotiated with the unions as well as advocates for reform to jointly author AB 1454 to promote the science of reading in California school districts. The bill was signed into law, and I also helped deliver $200 million in state funding to support local school district initiatives to train teachers and administrators to adopt evidence-based best practices in early literacy instruction. As State Superintendent, I will continue to be an independent voice to advocate for best educational practices to prioritize student success and well-being.

Orange County Register

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State superintendent candidates share their thoughts on teachers’ unions

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