Meet the State Superintendent candidates: Anthony Rendon, former Assembly speaker

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Former Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon would be returning to his political roots if he wins the race to be California’s next superintendent of public instruction.

He was motivated to enter politics in 2012 when he ran on his record of administering nonprofit early childhood education programs, as early ed faced cuts amid budget deficits in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration.

Now, he said, he is motivated by strong fears that President Donald Trump will eventually gut funding for Head Start, creating a crisis for California and other states.

“If Head Start’s eliminated, we’re going to see an unbelievable demand that we’re going to have to sort out to make up for a lot of the care that we’re going to lose for kids,” he said in an interview. He said he is the best-positioned candidate for superintendent to take on that challenge.

“The first thing we need to do is defend Head Start,” he said.

Rendon is one of several candidates in a crowded June primary for the nonpartisan office, which oversees California’s vast K-12 system. He argues his background in early childhood programs and legislative leadership makes him best equipped to take on this task, but he faces competition from candidates backed by major teachers’ unions.

Rendon leads in fundraising with nearly $1.2 million after carrying over money raised in an aborted campaign for state treasurer.

Rendon, 58, of Lakewood, served as Assembly speaker from 2016 to 2023, the second-longest term after Willie Brown’s 15 years. As the son of working-class parents, he worked his way through community college before earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Cal State Fullerton and a doctorate in political science from UC Riverside as part of a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship. He also completed postgraduate work at Boston University. He has a 6-year-old daughter.

With ties to organized labor, Rendon secured endorsements from the California Federation of Labor, the Service Employees International Union and the California Association of Professional Firefighters. But major teachers’ unions have backed other candidates: The California Teachers Association is backing San Diego Unified School Board President Richard Barrera, while the California Federation of Teachers has endorsed Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance.

“The education unions, which tend to play big, are all over the place,” Rendon said, adding that with his labor endorsements and the support of dozens of elected officials, “I have more endorsements than any other candidate.”

He called the superintendent’s post “important” but “underutilized.” He declined to criticize outgoing Superintendent Tony Thurmond, whom he said was “dealt a bad hand” by the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic.

As the June election approaches, Gov. Gavin Newsom is pushing a proposal to transfer oversight of the California Department of Education from the superintendent to the governor and the State Board of Education, whose members are gubernatorial appointees.

Rendon said he has not discussed the plan with the governor and strongly opposes it, calling it inconsistent with democratic governance. “I think all over the world, we see the consolidation of executive branches. It’s just a really bad look at this time. It’s not what Californians have asked for in the past,” he said.

The superintendent’s office is “always called a bully pulpit, but it’s more than just that,” Rendon said, citing the superintendent’s ex officio seats on the UC Regents and California State University board of trustees as points of potential influence.

Wesley Hussey, a political science professor at Sacramento State, said Rendon used power astutely as speaker, dispersing it among committee chairs and creating a “pretty successful” record. Putting the success of his caucus ahead of his own “is a really strong selling point.”

But he added that Rendon did not appear to play a leading role in shaping education policies during his tenure.

Rendon pointed to his creation of a blue-ribbon commission on early childhood education, which he said contributed to Newsom’s embrace of universal Transitional Kindergarten.

“I did a lot of state child care programs, state infants and toddler programs, which were cool,” he said.

Since leaving the Assembly, Rendon has worked as a consultant, earning more than $100,000 from UCLA’s Voter Rights Project last year, according to disclosure documents filed with the Secretary of State. He’s also lectured at Loyola Marymount University and been a fellow at USC.

In 2021, The Sacramento Bee and the Center for Investigative Reporting reported that nonprofits with ties to Rendon’s wife, Annie Lam, received more than $500,000 in donations and event sponsorships from dozens of companies with business before lawmakers.

“There is no connection between any donations to Annie’s nonprofits and what happens with respect to legislation,” he said at the time.

The Los Angeles Times reported in 2023 that Lamb received $400,000 in income in 2022 from consulting work for entities with business before lawmakers. Lam told the newspaper she stood “on my own abilities, accomplishments, and successes.”

Rendon said his time as speaker reinforced that, despite the big issues that play out in Sacramento, “ultimately people need to see real results in their own communities and, in this regard, in their own schools.”