Ahead of the November general election, the Southern California News Group compiled a list of questions to pose to the candidates who wish to represent you. You can find the full questionnaire below.
Name: Sonja Shaw
Age: 44
Current job title: President, Chino Valley Unified School District board
Political party affiliation: Republican
Incumbent: No
Other political positions held: Chino Valley Unified School District, Trustee Area 3
City where you reside: Chino
Campaign website or social media: ShawForCA.com
The superintendent’s role in the state’s education governance structure changed as part of the budget deal reached this summer. How has this made you refocus your priorities and what you hope to accomplish in this role, if elected? (Please answer in 200 words or less.)
If Sacramento insiders have turned this office into an evaluator and advocate instead of the person who runs education day-to-day, then I will do that without apology: call out what is failing, defend what works locally, and refuse to stand idly by while students continue to fail.
I won’t take this lightly. First, I will be an independent check on everything the Education Commissioner does in his newly established role: publish results, call out waste, and speak for parents when the governor’s appointee will not.
Second, I will use whatever remains of guidance, oversight, accountability, and parent resources to push reading, math, and fiscal transparency.
Third, I will fight the restructuring itself. Voters created this office to be independent. If the law stands, I will still treat every day as a chance to move classrooms back to instruction and away from political priorities. The goal does not shrink because the authority did. The methods get louder and more public.
As part of the budget, a deal was also reached to withhold Proposition 98 funding from public schools until the beginning of next year, once tax revenue expectations become clearer. Did you support this plan, or will you push to have these funds released sooner? Please explain your answer. (Please answer in 200 words or less.)
I did not support it, and I would push to release the money on the timetable the law specifies, not at Sacramento’s convenience.
Districts cannot staff classrooms, keep programs running, or plan a school year on a promise that the cash might show up after tax season. Withholding guaranteed school funding to paper over a state budget problem ultimately equates to Sacramento insiders borrowing against our kids’ future. I would press for a firm repayment calendar, and oppose turning this into a habit.
That does not mean I think a delayed check is the only issue. Schools also have to spend what they receive on classroom instruction, instead of wasting it on overhead and pet projects. I would argue for the dollars themselves, as well as for proof those funds directly reach students and classrooms.
Holding funds hostage is the wrong answer. Honest budgeting and true accountability is the only way forward.
Public schools and school districts across the state are facing budget woes due to years of declining enrollment. How do you intend to address these fiscal challenges in the new superintendent role if elected? (Please answer in 200 words or less.)
Declining enrollment isn’t just a budgeting problem. Families leave when they do not trust the product. The response has to be two-fold: win back the trust of parents, and stop spending as if the old head count is coming back automatically.
I would push districts to protect classrooms first. Teachers, reading and math support, and on-campus safety. Shrink extraneous administration and drop state mandates that cost money without raising achievement. The superintendent should help districts right-size with clear enrollment and budget data, not surprise them with new, unfunded mandates.
I would also treat choice as part of the picture. Public schools stabilize when they are worth choosing. Measure success by whether more families stay, whether a higher share of each dollar hits instruction, and whether cuts hit bureaucracy before they hit kids.
The University of California is considering bringing back standardized test scores as part of its undergraduate admissions process. Is this something you support? If so, how would the California Department of Education under your leadership ensure that high school students of all backgrounds get the same level of access to prep courses and materials? (Please answer in 200 words or less.)
I absolutely support a return to standardized testing. Grades alone have been inflated and given unevenly. A common test is imperfect, but it is more honest than pretending every transcript means the same thing. UC faculty have been screaming from the rooftops that far too many students arrive unprepared. You can’t fix that by sweeping their true level of preparedness under the rug.
The Department of Education does not run UC admissions, but it does shape whether high school students are ready. Testing performance is ultimately a reflection of core academics: reading, writing, and math. That is what we need to focus on if we want California kids to succeed.
Equal access begins with making sure the regular curriculum already teaches what the test asks.
Speaking of test scores, a lot has been said about how California students are underperforming on national standardized assessments, with large disparities found among racial and socioeconomic groups. How would you use the superintendent’s role to ensure California’s kids are actually learning? (Please answer in 200 words or less.)
I would use the office to stop managing the narrative and start managing the outcome. National scores are telling us the same thing state scores do: too many children, especially in the groups we claim to care about most, are not learning to read, write, or do math.
The superintendent can set a public standard, spotlight programs and methodologies that work, and refuse to bless programs that look compassionate while producing no measurable result.
I would push phonics and math mastery, early screening, and intervention before middle school, when gaps become career-long. I would also insist on reporting that shows group results clearly, not averages that hide who is being left behind.
What’s the No. 1 problem in California education, and what would you do to fix it? (Please answer in 200 words or less.)
The core problem is that we have built a system that can churn through funds, many of which are wasted on political priorities and administrative overhead, while failing to produce results.
I would fix it by making student success in reading, writing, and math the non-negotiable product. That means evidence-based instruction and an honest timeline for identifying kids who are falling behind. It also means parents in the loop and schools that feel safe enough that families will stay.
The superintendent cannot rewrite every statute, but the office can make failure visible and throw support behind the districts proving that a basics-first approach can raise scores.
This isn’t a mystery. California schools have a priority problem. We can’t expect our kids to succeed until the priority is success itself.
What is one policy the state could enact to ensure better financial oversight of California schools? And how would you measure whether that policy is successful? (Please answer in 200 words or less.)
Require every district to publish transparent annual reports on how funds are spent. Specifically, what percentage of funds reach school-site instruction versus central administration, consultants, and non-academic programs. Break it down in plain language and post it for the voters to examine.
Oversight fails when the public cannot follow the money until after the damage is done. A standardized spending disclosure would let parents, boards, and the state compare districts and ask right questions about how education dollars are being spent.
Measuring the success would be simple. If the program is working, then the classroom share rises over time and academic outcomes improve.
How do you believe schools can better teach or engage students in civil discourse? How do you see the role of the superintendent in facilitating this? (Please answer in 200 words or fewer.)
Teach students how to make a claim, use evidence, and sit across from someone they disagree with without turning the other person into a villain. That’s a skill that is unfortunately fading away in today’s society, and one we need to recapture if we’re going to fix our schools.
Schools can best facilitate this by ensuring civics and history are treated like real courses, not soapboxes for political activists. No shouting down, no compelled speech, no punishing a student for having an opinion that others might disagree with.
The superintendent’s role is to protect that space, not to turn the department into another political actor. I would encourage districts to restore civics, defend viewpoint diversity, and keep contested adult politics out of the curriculum. You cannot lecture students about civil discourse while the institution models the opposite.
This is a nonpartisan role, but the topic of education can get quite political. What’s one thing you’d do in your office to ensure the job remains focused on California’s students and educators and not politics? Please explain. (Please answer in 200 words or fewer.)
I would benchmark the office off measurable student outcomes: reading, math, attendance, classroom spending. Updated on a fixed schedule, with no accompanying campaign language.
Politics creeps in when elected officials try to rewrite the story to fit their narrative. A standing benchmark takes that privilege away. Every initiative would have to explain how it moves those numbers. The daily work of the office should be tethered to whether children are learning and succeeding.
Tell us about a time you’ve changed your mind on a political position. What was it, and what changed your mind? (Please answer in 200 words or less.)
I used to think the responsible move was to stay in my lane as a parent and trust that elected education leaders would course correct if enough families showed up and asked politely.
The fights over closures, mandates, parents’ rights, and girls’ safety and privacy changed that. I learned that “not being political” is itself a position, and it is the position the system prefers because it leaves the people already in charge alone.
I also changed how I thought about working inside a district. After I was elected, my first instinct was that the whole system was the adversary. Serving on the board taught me that you can reject Sacramento’s worst mandates and work directly with good teachers and administrators who want academic recovery just as much as families do.
We did that to resounding success in Chino Valley, becoming recognized as one of the top districts in the state and identified by Stanford-led research as an academic recovery model. I want to see that kind of success for every school in our state, and the results we’ve seen locally are proof that it’s not just a pipe dream.
Bonus question: What is the best book you’ve read this year? Explain why you found it compelling.
“The Art of War.” I found it very relevant to the battle I’ve been in these last few years to fix our schools and protect our kids. Know the terrain, do not fight the last war, and do not confuse noise with strength. That is good advice for a parent who walked into a system that expected her just give up.