Newsom pushes for overhaul of state ed governance Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed sweeping changes to California’s educational governance system as part of his 2026-27 budget proposal.

“California can no longer postpone reforms that have been recommended regularly for a century,” Newsom said in a Jan. 8 press release outlining the changes. “These critical reforms will bring greater accountability, clarity, and coherence to how we serve our students and schools.”

Newsom’s budget proposes to implement recommendations of the Legislature’s 2002 report, California’s Master Plan for Education, to move oversight of the California Department of Education and ultimate responsibility for state oversight and support of local educational agencies under the State Board of Education.

The Legislature’s report describes California’s K-12 education system as being governed by a fragmented set of entities with overlapping roles that sometimes operate in conflict with one another, to the detriment of educational services offered to students.

This concern, first raised by the Legislature in 1920 and echoed in succeeding reports, was reinforced in a December 2025 report from Policy Analysis for California Education that concluded, “California can no longer postpone reforms that have been overdue for a century.”

Newsom’s budget further proposes to expand and strengthen the State Superintendent of Public Instruction’s ability to foster coordination and alignment of state education policies from early childhood through postsecondary education.

These changes can be accomplished through statute, and consistent with decades of expert recommendations and recent calls for action, will strengthen governance of California’s education system to provide coherence and meaningful accountability for addressing the needs of students, parents, teachers, school staff, and administrators.

ACSA Executive Director Dr. Edgar Zazueta was quoted in the governor’s press release, saying ACSA welcomed the proposed changes.

“California’s education governance system is complex and too often creates challenges for school leaders,” he said. “As responsibilities and demands on schools continue to increase, educators need governance systems that are designed to better support positive student outcomes.”

Zazueta said the governor’s proposal would support a thoughtful examination of school governance and accountability, adding that these efforts should be “informed by the perspectives of school leaders and educators working closest to students.”

School Services selects new president; Gray to remain CEO School Services of California Inc. President and CEO John Gray has stepped down from his position as president.

In a workshop held recently in Sacramento, Gray announced Dr. Patti Herrera as the new president of School Services, the fourth leader of the company, according to a LinkedIn post announcing the change.

Gray will continue to serve as CEO, focusing on broad education issues, while Herrera will a responsible for managing the company. Founded in 1975, School Services provides business, financial, management, and advocacy for educational agencies in California.

In the announcement, Gray said he was honored to serve as the company’s president for the last 13 years and that he and Herrera would continue to work together to serve clients’ needs.

Member honored for student services leadership A national education magazine has named an ACSA member one of its top directors of student services in the country.

Dr. Patrick Gaffney, director of student services at Clayton Valley Charter High School in Concord, was selected as one of the Top 10 Directors of Student Services in 2025 by Education Insider magazine, which covers trends and insights for K-12 and higher education leaders.

The recognition “honors leaders who are shaping the future of student-centered education through innovation, equity, and whole child development,” according to the magazine.

An article on Gaffney’s recognition in Education Insider details his efforts to help every student reach their full potential. Gaffney’s achievements at Clayton Valley Charter include growing a special education program that provides individualized support through co-teaching and small-group instruction. The school offers co-teaching in the four core A-G approved courses, a study skills program, and an adult transition program.

“This work has taught me that genuine inclusion requires more than just good intentions. It requires structural change, relentless individualization and teams who believe every student deserves a program build around them,” he is quoted in the article.

In the article, Gaffney also describes how the district transitions students with IEPs from its five feeder districts and how AI is making the complexities of special education easier to understand.

“AI often feels like an unstoppable force, expanding access and information for everyone,” he said in the article. “To thrive, we must embrace its potential while holding fast to relationships and empathy, because those remain the heart of meaningful learning.”

Read the full article at www.educationinsidermagazine.com/cxoinsight/dr-patrick-gaffney-nwid-799.html.

Law raises compensation limit for school board members Under a new law that went into effect Jan. 1, the maximum monthly compensation for school board and county board of education members is now five times the previous maximum amount.

According to a client news brief from law firm Lozano Smith, the maximum amount for board member compensation is limited by statute. Boards may set their compensation level at any amount that does not exceed the statutory limit. The limits are tied to average daily attendance for each school district or COE.

The limits for compensation have not been adjusted since 1984 for school districts and 1987 for county boards of education. For the new maximum compensation amounts, visit content.acsa.org/legislature-significantly-increases-statutory-ceiling-on-compensation-for-school-board-members.

Report: U.S. prep programs not growing teacher diversity A new report from the National Council on Teacher Quality finds that U.S. teacher preparation programs are not graduating enough candidates of color to meaningfully grow teacher diversity. More than 4 in 10 teacher prep programs are not only missing opportunities to diversify the workforce, they are actively making it less diverse. The report, “Driving Diversity: How Teacher Prep Can Accelerate Progress,” analyzes national and state trends in teacher preparation program diversity and provides actionable recommendations to help more diverse cohorts meet high standards and enter the classroom. Research shows that all students — regardless of race — benefit from being taught by a diverse teaching corps. Students who have teachers of color achieve higher test scores, are absent less often, and develop stronger social-emotional skills. These benefits are especially strong for students of color, who are also more likely to take and pass advanced courses, graduate high school, and attend college when they are taught by teachers of color. Because most new teachers earn their credentials through preparation programs, the diversity of those programs directly shapes the diversity of the teacher workforce. Nationally, teacher preparation programs are graduating cohorts that are more diverse than the current teacher workforce, but the pace of change is too slow to match demographic changes. The full report is available at teacherdiversity.nctq.org/brief/driving-diversity-how-teacher-prep-can-accelerate-progress.