California budget strips power from elected school superintendent and gives it to the governor’s office

Published July 1, 2026 5:50pm ET

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has quietly scored one of the biggest power grabs of his governorship.

Buried in California‘s newly enacted budget is a provision that strips the elected state superintendent of public instruction of authority and transfers it to a governor-appointed official, giving the executive branch unprecedented control over the state’s $149 billion K-12 education system.