I was an art mom and a PE mom before I was a school district president and candidate for state superintendent of public instruction.

When my daughters were in elementary school, parents were constantly told if we didn’t step up, our kids would go without. They told us directly that there wasn’t enough money.

I believed it. But I shouldn’t have.

California spends more than $150 billion a year on education. More than $22,000 per student, annually, statewide. Ironically, despite all that spending, California’s kids have been no better for it. More than half of the Golden State’s children can’t read, write or do math at grade level. 

And it’s not a matter of throwing more money at the problem. Rather, it’s a failure of priorities, accountability and leadership. Billions are funneled into educational fads without the data to back up their efficacy. Funds are further swallowed by pet projects and bureaucratic excess.

Meanwhile, teachers are too inundated by paperwork to make a difference, while administrators are often stripped of authority. Basic discipline, essential for any productive learning environment, has become a battle.

All the while, schoolchildren — who depend on the educational system to lead them to a better future — keep falling further and further behind.

As to the people in charge of this system, they always seem to have an answer for everything. That is, they have an answer for everything, except for the question that actually matters: Why doesn’t the system work?

Even college professors have pulled the alarm about students arriving at college woefully unprepared, requiring remedial English and math.

Just think about that. After 12 years in California’s public schools, students arrive on campus years behind the benchmark to be capable of completing college-level work. And the people responsible for this mess want more money and an even bigger bureaucracy. In the end, it amounts to more of the same.

Parents are fighting back, finally. And I’m one of them.

When I ran for school board, special interests spent more than $150,000 trying to stop me. Now, in my race for state superintendent, they’ve already spent more than $8.7 million.

And what are they so afraid of, you might ask?

They don’t want parents to start asking where the money has gone and why their kids aren’t learning. They don’t want parents to question who benefits from a system that never measurably improves. They’re afraid someone will adjust the dials and change that system.

And they have plenty more to defend than their budgets.

Here are the latest Opinion stories on the 2026 election:

An overwhelming majority of Californians believe boys should not compete in girls’ sports or use girls’ locker rooms and restrooms. It’s not an extreme position; it’s common sense.

Parents also have every right to interrogate why sexually graphic material is being taught in classes. If the content is too explicit for a children’s movie, does it really belong in a school library?

Political insiders and special interests have built a lucrative business around these priorities. They receive public money, institutional partnerships and influence, all while advocating for agendas that have exactly nothing to do with teaching children phonics or mathematics. The system funds the people who further corrupt it, while California children and families are footing the bill. 

Speaking out can be costly. My family and I have received death threats. We’ve been vilified in the press for doing our duty: standing up for children, supporting the teachers who do good work and demanding accountability from the educational apparatus.

The message we’ve gotten in return has been clear: Challenge the establishment, and they’ll make an example out of you.

Parents should ask why the people in power try to silence their critics.

California schools really don’t need another task force, consultant or pricey experiment. They need to teach the basics: reading, writing and math.

We need safe classrooms, discipline and transparency. Teachers need the space to teach, free from political interference. Administrators need the authority to lead.

These demands are hardly radical. They’re a public school system’s basic responsibilities.

When schools return to their mandates, I’ve seen what happens: They succeed. Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen how hard the establishment fights to prevent such change from taking place. 

So when you see millions poured into school board elections, ask yourself what those donors are really buying. Certainly not better scores in reading, writing and math. No — they’re paying to protect a system that has failed our children repeatedly, while enriching the people who run it.

California’s children are running out of time. We cannot afford another generation of excuses. The special interests in charge have had their chance, and it’s time for a change. It’s time to put someone in charge who answers not to Sacramento lobbyists, but to parents and children.

They’re counting on us. Not the system. 

Sonja Shaw is president of the Chino Valley Unified School District and a candidate for California state superintendent of public instruction.

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