Early Edge Resources

Budget Summary: TK – 12 Education Governance

August 12, 2026

Background

California’s TK-12 education system has long distributed authority across multiple state entities, including the State Board of Education (SBE), the California Department of Education (CDE), and the independently, statewide elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI). This structure has been examined over the years, with the Legislature’s 2002 Master Plan for Education describing a set of entities with overlapping roles that can operate in tension with one another. This year’s budget acts on those long-standing recommendations by restructuring how state-level education policy is set and carried out, with changes taking effect in January 2027.

Governance Details

AB 181 takes effect January 1, 2027, and restructures state-level education authority:

• Education Commissioner (new): A Governor-appointed, Senate-confirmed Commissioner assumes management of the CDE, serving under the SBE with executive and administrative authority over the Department. This transfers day-to-day management from the elected SPI to the Commissioner.
• State Superintendent of Public Instruction (redefined): The SPI remains elected but shifts from managing the CDE to serving as an independent statewide voice for students, families, and educators. AB 181 establishes the Office of the State Superintendent, staffed by deputies, associate superintendents, and support staff, and makes the SPI a voting member of both the SBE and the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges.
• State Board of Education (expanded): The SBE grows to 13 members, adding the SPI as a voting member and two legislative appointees, one each named by the Senate President pro Tempore and the Assembly Speaker, to preserve a balance of power.

The law also directs the Education Commissioner to develop recommendations for a second phase of governance consolidation, with an interim report due June 30, 2027, and a final report due October 1, 2027.

Why It Matters: Coordinated Governance Helps Meet the Needs of Students

Coordinated governance is essential to ensuring education systems meet the needs of students. Stronger accountability, clarity, and coordination regarding how the state supports schools and districts translates directly into better outcomes for students, particularly children experiencing poverty, multilingual learners, children with disabilities, and children of color. By aligning the agencies responsible for setting education policy and carrying it out, California is building a clearer line of responsibility for results and a stronger foundation for supporting local educational agencies, helping ensure the state’s historic investments in TK-12 education are implemented effectively and consistently.

Early Edge California’s Role

Early Edge California supports and advocates for governance systems and structures that work for children, families, and educators. This session, Early Edge submitted letters of support to state legislators, urging them to move forward with the proposed governance changes. We believe everyone benefits when the structures that serve them work effectively and efficiently, and we see this as an important step toward the broader early childhood governance improvements still to come.

Read Early Edge California’s final budget statement.