Tony K. Thurmond
California State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Controls: K-12 policy statewide.
Civio maps government as seen from Lake Forest, California. This office is one layer of everything that governs the city — enter your address to see the exact roster that governs you. Your address never leaves your device.
1What can this job do?
The State Superintendent of Public Instruction runs the California Department of Education and carries out the state's K-12 policies — overseeing testing, school accountability, and the distribution of state and federal education funding to school districts. It is the only statewide elected office.
It does NOT run your local schools (elected local boards do) or set education law and standards alone — that authority is shared with the State Board of Education and the Legislature.
2What has this person done with it?
We don't yet track a record of this official's actions here. For state offices, the public record is unusually good: recorded votes and bill histories are at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, and campaign finance is at the Secretary of State's Cal-Access. Those primary sources are the place to look — we'd rather send you there than summarize selectively.
We only log matters of public record, in the same format for every official — never opinion or news coverage.
3How does this affect you?
Every Californian shares this office. The state superintendent of public instruction leads the California Department of Education and oversees the state's public schools. You share this one nonpartisan official with the whole state.
4How do you change it?
This is an elected statewide office with a four-year term, limited to two terms — every voter in California chooses it together, so your vote is one of millions. These offices are on the ballot in the same even-year cycle as the Governor. Registration, polling place, and mail ballots run through the Orange County Registrar of Voters (ocvote.gov).
This seat is on the ballot November 3, 2026.