It’s not often you see over 900 diverse organizations across California all agree on something. But when a problem affecting our kids’ education has existed for over a century with little progress towards fixing it, it brings people together to finally demand a solution.
In 1919, the California Special Committee on Education identified that our education governance system was in desperate need of reform. For 106 years, that fragmented and inefficient system has remained unchanged, hindered our students’ ability to succeed, and helped lead California to have some of the largest achievement gaps and lowest student performance of any state in the country.
Now in 2026, thanks to overwhelming support and the governor’s leadership, we finally have a chance to reform California’s education governance system to better address our students’ needs.
More than 950 organizations across California have signed on in support of education governance reform, demanding that the California Department of Education be aligned under a more logical leadership structure to provide clearer guidance for schools and hold state leaders accountable for delivering results. The campaign, coordinated by Children Now through the Children’s Movement of California, features a vast collection of supporters across parent, student, civil rights, business, faith, and community groups. They come from 48 of the state’s 58 counties, from Modoc and Trinity in the far north to Imperial in the far south. They range in diversity from the California School Boards Association, to the American Academy of Pediatrics, to Boys and Girls Clubs all across the state.
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In contrast, California’s system has led to relatively poor student performance — just 46% of California 4th graders are proficient in English, while just 42% are proficient in math, according to Children Now’s 2026 California Children’s Report Card. The Getting Down to Facts III report released this month also confirmed the need for education governance reform as a pre-requisite to the other major reforms needed to improve student performance.
We cannot wait any longer to address a core reason for our state’s education failures. Will adopting the governor’s proposal miraculously change student outcomes and solve all our issues? Of course not. But governance is foundational to improving our student achievement. It is critical that our education system has clear accountability for delivering support to students and getting results. With nearly 1000 organizations across California in agreement, now is the time to make California’s education system work better for our kids.