State data shows the California school administrators are more racially diverse, more likely to be female and more likely to have less experience than administrators had several years ago, according to a recent study by the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools.
But there is a lot the state data doesn’t show. The data, which is not disaggregated by position, doesn’t reveal whether women and people of color are getting more district-level superintendent, deputy superintendent and directors jobs, or whether they are primarily gaining jobs at the vice principal or principal level.
The report, “Who Leads California’s Schools? New Insights from Statewide Administrator Data,” analyzed five years of data from 2019-20 to 2023-24 from the California Department of Education.
A more diverse administrator pipeline
The research shows a nearly 9% surge in the number of California school administrators, from 26,441 to 28,780, during the five-year term. The percentage of female administrators increased almost 3%, to 66.8%, while the percentage of male administrators decreased by the same amount, to 33.1%.
The state also added more Latino, Black and Asian administrators during this period. Latino administrators increased nearly 3% to 26.3%, while Black and Asian administrators increased incrementally to 8% and 5%, respectively. Despite that, the majority of school administrators, 53.3%, were white in 2023-24.
In contrast, teacher data released last year showed an increase in Hispanic, Filipino, Asian, American Indian and Pacific Islander teachers and an incremental decline in Black teachers.
“We’ve seen positive trends in terms of the diversity of educational leadership in the state of California, and seeing growth in that regard,” said Joe Bishop, executive director of the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools.
What the data doesn’t show
California state data isn’t broken down by administrative job role, but national patterns suggest women are more likely to serve as school principals while men are district leaders, according to the report.
“The data is still informative, but it just doesn’t get down to the level that could be more helpful,” Bishop said.
The report made several recommendations to state leaders including:
- Establishing statewide metrics and goals for a capable, sustainable and diverse school administrator workforce
- Modernizing and standardizing administrator data systems
- Determining explicit state goals to strengthen and diversify leadership pipelines
- Asking policymakers to address persistent racial and gender disparities across administrative roles
- Assessing the long-term impact of Covid and federal funding shifts on administrative stability and retention
“As California pushes to build an educator workforce that reflects the diversity of its communities, the state should prioritize more comprehensive, disaggregated data systems and targeted research on administrator preparation, recruitment and career mobility,” according to the report.
Having accurate disaggregated data, broken down by positions, is important to determine why superintendents and administrators are leaving their jobs, Bishop said.
Superintendent turnover at record high
Superintendent turnover reached historic levels nationally in 2025, according to the Superintendent Research Project, led by the ILO Group, a national education strategy and policy firm. Of the nation’s top 500 school districts, nearly a quarter have had a change in leadership in the past year — a 5% increase over the previous year, according to the study.
“The role of superintendent is one of the most influential in public education, and yet data show that districts and states continue to face destabilizing turnover,” said Julia Rafal-Baer, co-founder and chief executive of ILO Group.
Several California superintendents will have retired by the end of the school year, including Christopher Hoffman of Elk Grove Unified, Steve Martinez of Twin Rivers Unified, Jill Baker of Long Beach Unified and John Baker of the Redwood City School District. Martinez, Hoffman and John Baker each led their districts for more than 10 years.
Other superintendents who left their positions this school year include Sacramento City Unified Superintendent Lisa Allen and Palo Alto Superintendent Don Austin.
Some of the factors potentially driving superintendent resignation include politics and school budgets impacted by declining enrollment, higher costs and the loss of federal funds.
Bishop predicts that superintendent resignations could increase as district leaders deal with big budget cuts that force them to make difficult decisions that include laying off teachers and other school staff.
“It’s just a really hard time to be an educational leader in public education, especially in California,” Bishop said. “I mean, we have huge systems, so people have to make some really hard decisions. So, I think it’s hard to find exceptional people for exceptionally difficult decisions.”
The UCLA research showed there were fewer experienced administrators at schools in 2023-24 than in the four years prior, although more than 94% had at least three years of experience.
The state has focused attention and spent more than $1 billion on teacher recruitment and retention since 2018, but has not done the same for administrators.
“(We) have to change state Ed Code so we can closely monitor why folks are leaving,” Bishop said. “Not only teachers, but the administrators. Right now it’s a jigsaw. There’s just so much more we could be doing to monitor and understand patterns.”
The research is part of the California Educator Diversity Project that includes an analysis of California’s teacher workforce.
“The educational leaders are the secret sauce for the system, especially in terms of teacher retention,” Bishop said. “If you don’t have a leader who knows how to support their staff and support their students, everybody is impacted.”