California’s public education system is failing, and the political machine running it is doubling down instead of repairing it.
Nearly half of all students in this state cannot read or write at grade level, and math scores are even worse. But the crisis goes beyond academics. In too many classrooms, instruction is being replaced with political agendas that divide, confuse and push children further from mastering the education basics they deserve.
Parents across California are waking up. They’re choosing charter schools, homeschool charters, and alternative learning models to protect their children and give them a shot at success. These options have become lifelines, especially for families whose traditional public schools no longer meet their kids’ needs.
But Sacramento’s loyalty lies with the system, not the students. Instead of fixing what’s broken in our traditional public schools, legislators are moving to eliminate educational freedom.
The California Assembly has already passed Assembly Bill 84, which threatens to wipe out charter schools and homeschool charters statewide. Now it’s up to the Senate to decide if this reckless bill will make it to Gov. Newsom’s desk.
AB 84 is not about improving education. It’s about trapping families in a failing system and removing any learning alternative that threatens the power of California’s education establishment: the teachers unions and the politicians they bankroll.
Among them is AB 84’s author, Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, now a candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Rather than stand with parents, he’s working to strip away their options in hopes of securing the unions’ endorsement.
The unions claim AB 84 is needed to hold charter schools accountable. In reality, charter schools already face strict oversight, including regular audits and renewal reviews, and they must comply with all state laws. This bill isn’t about fixing a problem. It’s about cutting funding and adding red tape for charter schools to make it harder for them to exist.
If enacted, AB 84 would devastate the few education models that are working. Homeschool charters likely won’t survive. Charter schools would be smothered under new restrictions that make it nearly impossible to innovate, adapt, or prioritize students’ needs.
Why would anyone do this? Because the teachers unions fear competition and what it reveals. When children thrive in charter schools, homeschool programs, or learning pods, it exposes the truth: it’s not the students who are failing. It’s the union-controlled system. And the teachers unions would rather preserve that broken system than give children a real future.
The human cost of this political control is staggering.
I’ve spoken with families whose children were years behind in reading until they found a charter school that worked. I’ve met students who were struggling until they rediscovered joy and confidence through homeschool charter environments. If AB 84 shuts down these education lifelines, our most vulnerable children will fall back through the cracks and their families will be powerless to stop it.
This isn’t just a policy dispute. It’s a fight for our children’s future and the constitutional right of every parent protected under the 14th Amendment to direct the upbringing and education of their children. These should not be partisan issues. The U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed time and again that families have the right to choose the school that fits their child’s needs.
California’s children deserve better. They have a right to schools that focus on reading, writing, math, and, yes, character. They deserve educators who are supported, not silenced, by political interests. Students need a system that works for them, not for the adults in power.
AB 84 isn’t just bad policy, it’s a direct threat to the future of California’s public education system and the children it is supposed to serve. We must stop it now, before the unions and their political allies succeed in closing the door to educational freedom for good.
Sonja Shaw is the president of the Chino Valley Unified School Board. She is a candidate for state superintendent of public instruction.
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