After the Secretary of State released certified results on Friday for this year’s primary election, campaigning kicks into high gear throughout the state’s newly drawn voting districts as candidates work to convey their message to voters.
With concerns high about student learning lapses amid the pandemic, the Superintendent of Public Instruction race is being closely watched after the incumbent, Tony Thurmond, failed to get 50 percent of the vote despite millions in campaign funding. He faced a field of six challengers and after the 7.3 million votes were counted, Thurmond will face the next highest vote getter, Lance Ray Christensen, in the November general election.
Christensen entered the race in March and with minimal funding was able to tap in to voter sentiment about the teacher union bureaucracy that many feel has hampered the progress of California students.
In moving on to the general election, the campaign will be more clearly defined between two candidates with far different platforms, Christensen told the Northern California Record.
“One is, should we let the status quo continue on as it is and have education in our public schools controlled by public teachers’ unions, or should we allow parents to have a greater voice in our kids’ education and make sure that resources follow the kids and don’t fund broken systems,” Christensen said.
Christensen’s list of endorsements has expanded in recent weeks. He has five school-age children, the oldest of whom just graduated from San Juan Unified School District.
“I intend on running a very strong race, appealing to every Californian out there that cares for our kids and wants to make sure that we once again have the best education system in the world. which we used to have decades ago,” Christensen said.
As the state’s leader of public schools, Christensen noted his mission would focus on advocating on behalf of parents. Christensen, who is VP of Education Policy at the California Policy Center, began his career as a teacher and more recently has worked to bring education choice initiatives to the ballot.
Despite California spending record amounts on per-pupil expenditures, students struggle to read and many middle school students still lack math comprehension skills. California’s almost two years of remote instruction amid the pandemic was far longer than other states’ due to demands from teachers’ unions.
Despite legal action over the years that has sought to make education more equitable, it could be argued not enough reforms have resulted.
“We need to make sure that we have a kids’ first approach to everything we do,” Christensen said, adding that he looks forward to debating Thurmond.