As Contra Costa County school districts grapple with budget cuts, staffing shortages and declining student performance, voters will choose a new county schools superintendent in the June 2 primary election.
County Office of Education Superintendent Lynn Mackey is retiring after eight years in office. Two candidates are vying for the seat: Dana Eaton, the superintendent of Brentwood Union School District, and Jag Lathan, school board president at Antioch Unified. Whoever wins the majority of the votes cast will win.
The county superintendent is essentially the CEO for the Contra Costa Office of Education, which oversees 18 school districts that educate 160,000 students. Unlike a local district superintendent (who runs one school district), the county superintendent works at the county level to support, oversee, and sometimes intervene in school districts, for example, if there are budget problems or charter school disputes. The county superintendent also oversees county-run schools and programs including alternative education for expelled or at-risk students as well as court and community schools for youths in the justice system.
The candidates participated in two candidate forums last week to help voters better understand their positions. Richmondside attended one on Saturday hosted by Alpha Kappa Alpha – Omega Upsilon Omega Chapter and the League of Women Voters.
Key 2026 election dates
Mail-in voting began: May 4
Deadline to register to vote in the primary: May 18
Primary election: June 2
For more info.: Visit Richmondside’s 2026 primary election voters guide
Lathan brings more than 25 years of experience. The Oakland native started her career as a special education teacher in Southern California, working her way up from principal to chief academic officer at the Alameda County Office of Education. She also started an education consultancy and leadership development firm, New Generation Equity, that helps train educators and leaders across the country with a goal of making schools more fair, effective, and supportive. Before being elected to the Antioch Unified School Board in 2022, Lathan was an instructor at UC Davis and a fellow at School Board Partners.
She says she has experience making structural changes and was the founding executive director of San Diego County Office of Education’s Equity Department in 2018. If elected, she would be the first Black county superintendent in Contra Costa County. She is endorsed by the Alameda County Superintendent of Schools, Alysee Castro, a number of school board trustees and superintendents, including three of her colleagues in Antioch, and the California Democratic Party.
“I am the first person in my family to attend college and earn a doctorate degree. That is important to me, and that’s important that every student in our county has that opportunity. And right now that’s not the case, and that needs to be the case,” Lathan said at the forum, which was held at Concord’s senior citizen center.
“I’m the best candidate, in my opinion, for this position. I’ve worked at county offices. I’ve transformed a school district, a school from low performing to high performing that was 90% kids of color, 90% low income,” Lathan continued. “I’ve done the work. I’ve done it at a school site. I’ve done it at the County Office of Education, and I want to be your next county superintendent.”
Eaton has 30 years of experience as a teacher, principal and superintendent in East Bay school districts. He has served 17 years as the Brentwood Unified superintendent and before that was the superintendent of Jefferson School District in Tracy, which is in San Joaquin County. He also sits on the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT), a governing board that is responsible for school finance and oversight, and is the president of the state’s Superintendency Council.
He sits on a number of boards and committees, such as the Superintendent Advisory Panel for the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, which is the state’s support provider for districts in need of academic assistance. He has Mackey’s endorsement as well endorsements from 28 other school district superintendents, dozens of teachers and more community members.
“Over 100 educators throughout Contra Costa County are supporting me, including teachers, custodians, secretaries, librarians, and I’m very proud to have their support. This is a very challenging time in education. It’s a time where experience really matters,” Eaton said. “If you’re a superintendent in a school district that’s experiencing challenges, you want to sit down and be supported by somebody who sat in your chair, by somebody that’s done the job. And so I’m very excited. I believe firmly in public education, and I’m honored to be able to run for this race.”
The forum moderator and audience members asked candidates 20 questions on a variety of topics including fiscal oversight, special education, AI, community relations and organizational culture. Candidates were given up to 90 seconds to answer each question.
There were about 30 attendees, including some county office of education school board members and Mackey. The crowd was primarily women sporting different shades of pink (the theme colors of Alpha Kappa Alpha). Outside each candidate had a table with campaign signs and sign up sheets for email lists, volunteer opportunities or to make a campaign contribution.
Richmondside reviewed campaign finance data reported by the candidates so far. As of May 5, Eaton had raised the most — about $62,000 — including $10,000 he loaned himself, according to his forms. His largest donor was Jennifer Gibb, vice president of Business Development at Van Pelt Construction Services, which contracts with districts and school sites for facility upgrades and planning. She has donated $5,000 to his campaign, and the company also donated $2,500. Mackey also contributed $2,600 to his campaign.
Lathan has raised more than $17,000 and loaned her campaign $6,000. Unlike Eaton, she received several smaller donations between $100-200. The largest campaign contribution she received was from Alysee Castro, the superintendent of schools for Alameda County, who donated $1,000.
Unlike past races for the county school board, charter schools did not make a big splash in campaign contributions. Neither candidate reported receiving charter school contributions.
The forum was aired on CCTV, but a link to watch it has not been posted yet. A forum hosted by the East Bay Leadership council on Friday was also recorded and can be watched here.
County Office of Education offers districts fiscal oversight
Several school districts in Contra Costa County are gearing up to approve their 2026-27 budgets, which they’re balancing by making millions of dollars in cuts and staff layoffs, including WCCUSD — one of the largest in the county.
Eaton emphasized his experience managing school finances, pointing to his role on the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT), the state agency that helps oversee district finances. He said Brentwood Unified maintained positive budget certifications throughout his 17-year tenure as superintendent.
Eaton said districts need to make difficult financial decisions early and improve communication around budget planning. He also wants to continue advocacy to increase funding from the state and federal government — which he says is one of the main causes of district deficits.
“I have hands-on experience in dealing with school districts that are in challenging financial situations,” Eaton said. “It’s important to make difficult decisions early. A million dollar cut that you don’t make in year one becomes a $2 million cut the next year.”
Lathan said districts are facing financial pressure from the expiration of COVID relief funds, rising healthcare costs and inadequate state funding formulas. She said she would advocate for increased funding and changes to California’s local control funding formula.
Like Eaton, Lathan emphasized transparent communication between school boards and community members. She also said she would bring in outside experts to help districts better understand long-term financial planning.
“The more we can educate school boards in our districts around what financial stability looks like, the more, I believe they can be transparent with their community, because they’ll be able to relate that information,” Lathan said.
Special education services and costs
Special education costs are skyrocketing in California as districts increasingly rely on outside contractors to fill vacant positions such as speech therapists, paraeducators and instructional aides. Districts face additional costs when they must send students to outside schools for specialized services they don’t offer.
Lathan said she would work to expand in-house special education services so districts can keep more students in their own communities rather than paying for outside placements. She also said she would support county accreditation programs to help address special education teacher shortages.
“In my school district (Antioch Unified), we spent about $14 million sending students,” Lathan said. “I’ve helped districts create programs so that students don’t always have to go to other private sources. An important piece of that is just keeping money and housing your students in your district and your community so they’re not going across the county to a non-public school.”
Eaton said districts often rely on contractors because they are legally required to provide services that they don’t have the staff to administer. In Brentwood Unified, he said, the district has eight vacant speech pathologist positions with few applicants.
Like Lathan, Eaton said he would support pathways into special education careers. He also argued that state and federal governments need to provide more funding.
“The federal government, when IDEA (The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act) was passed, promised to contribute 40%. They’re contributing maybe about 11%,” Eaton said. “(That means) this year we’re short about $32 million, and that means that every child suffers. That means that every child doesn’t get the programs and services that they need. And so it’s critical that we advocate for (more funding).”
Eaton said he has advocated in Washington D.C., and in Sacramento, particularly as president of the superintendency council for California. He plans to continue that advocacy if elected.
One candidate says additional charter schools aren’t needed
Both candidates emphasized the importance of public education, while noting their commitment to supporting existing charter schools. They also said that charter schools often open up in areas where traditional public schools are already experiencing declining enrollment. By taking more students away from those traditional schools, both candidates argued that charter schools further threaten already struggling districts.
Eaton noted however that charter schools are still also public schools, and as superintendent, he would make sure charters are meeting their stated goals.
“Charter schools come in with a very clear application and a very clear path of how they’re going to improve outcomes for students,” Eaton said. “It’s really critical that the county superintendent oversees that with diligence.”
Lathan took a stronger tone against charters, saying they tend to negatively impact traditional schools. She said this is another reason she wants to change the state’s funding formula, which bases funding on attendance.
“The charter schools that are open, if they’re doing well, let’s support them to do well,” Lathan said. “But we don’t really need any more.”
Candidates address county office leadership, organization
Lathan said the county office of education is “the first line of defense” for understanding how to teach and educate. She would prioritize staff training focused on evidence-based teaching practices and adopt “targeted universalism,” an approach that sets countywide goals while providing additional support for student groups with greater needs.
“A lot of districts are afraid, especially in this climate, to have conversations about the students who actually need help,” Lathan said. “They don’t want to say ‘Black students,’ they don’t want to say ‘English learners,’ they don’t want to say students who identify as LGBTQ. They don’t want to say that. And so it’s important for the county office to do that and to provide support around how you support those specific students.”
Eaton seconded increased support and training for staff in the county office and for teachers across the county. He would also want to take stock of the existing expertise in the office and triangulate that with the support school districts need, before thinking about specific training or programs he would like to create.
“One of the first things that gets reduced is professional development (in district budget cuts) … They reduce their staff that are the experts that come out and support teachers and instructional aides and administrators,” Eaton said. “The county office has to be able to step up their role in providing professional development.”
Both candidates said improving communication and trust between the county office and school districts would be a priority.
Eaton said he favors proactive outreach over an “open door policy.” He said as district superintendent, he tries to visit all 700 classrooms in his district quarterly to maintain good communication and understanding and would want to do the same at the county level.
Lathan said she would focus on building authentic relationships and creating more opportunities for staff advancement within the county office, noting it is a point of frustration among current staff.
Candidates say critical thinking important when weighing use of AI
Contra Costa County has long struggled with low academic performance. In Contra Costa County more than 50% of third graders are not reading at grade level, according to county librarian Alison McKee. During the forum, candidates were asked what strategies they would use to improve this.
Eaton said he would continue expanding county early literacy programs. He also pointed to curriculum and staffing changes in Brentwood Unified after the pandemic that he said helped improve student engagement and achievement.
“We saw very clearly a need to look at our history program, to look at our language arts program, to look at our library books, to look at our plays, to make sure that students were engaged because they were seeing themselves in the curriculum,” Eaton said. “As a result of that work and some of our community celebration work, we’ve seen some of the best gains in the county.”
Lathan said she would focus on phonics-based reading instruction and help districts replicate successful academic programs across the county.
“There’s something called improvement science, helping people understand the science of making improvements with their students,” Lathan said. “That’s an area that I would focus on, so that people understand and have experience and practice with improving instruction throughout the system.”
In terms of artificial intelligence, Lathan said she would first want to provide AI training to adults working with students so that they understand its advantages and limitations. Lathan said she supports students using AI, as long as they don’t have access to anything inappropriate. She would instead focus on implementing cell phone bans.
Both candidates said schools should carefully integrate AI into classrooms while ensuring students still develop critical thinking skills.
Eaton said AI can be a useful educational tool, but students first need foundational reading and analytical skills. He also noted that Brentwood Unified created an AI committee made up of teachers, administrators and students.
“It’s important for students to learn how to critically think before they solely rely on a machine to do it for them,” Eaton said.
Both candidates also emphasized expanding career pathways for students.
Lathan said she would want to partner with outside organizations, especially labor groups, to help students learn about different careers that may not be impacted by AI like plumbing or electrical work.
“I can foresee that conference right now, so that people can come and understand and learn, what are the different pathways and how you become (a certain job)? How do you get into an apprenticeship program?,” Lathan said.
Eaton said one of the most untapped resources are the community colleges, so he wants to work closely with them to expand resources to all students in the county.
“College is not the only outcome for students, and there’s lots of successful people who have career pathways, but we need to do a better job in K-12 education of mapping those out,” Eaton said. “They have lots of programs that are under-enrolled and provide very strong jobs… There’s a lot of opportunity there, and I think that we can make great opportunities for students.”
Editor’s Note: story was updated to reflect accurate campaign contribution attribution.
Eaton’s weak response on Charters really worries me as a parent who has seen charter schools syphon money from a District’s schools with no consideration of what happens to everyone else. I have problems with Jag’s handling of layoffs and budgetary concerns in AUSD, but her stance on Charter’s alone is worth a vote, for me.
Lathan seems like generally the superior candidate. I think she’ll be getting my vote. She seems a bit less “technocratic establishment” than Eaton. Especially Eaton getting big donations from public contractors seems like a potential conflict of interest.
Though I have to say Eaton’s thorough response and pledge to advocate for state funding for disabled kids felt very relevant and I was disappointed Lathan didn’t seem to emphasise this or the needs of disabled pupils as much.
I urge everyone to closely examine what both candidates are actually handling and operating their districts, and what is going on.
I live in Antioch, Dr. Jag’s district, and I will be voting for Dr. Eaton.
I supported Dr. Jag when she first ran for school board. But after watching the last four months of Antioch Unified School District board meetings, especially the last two, and how the fiscal budget crisis has been handled by the board under her leadership, I no longer can.
On May 13, under Dr. Jag’s leadership, more than 140 teachers, aides, mental health staff, psychologists, special education coordinators, and other staff were cut.
At least 2 board admitted they had not discussed some of these positions or how the cuts would impact students in classes or otherwise until that evening, where they started asking questions of two directors just before the vote. At least two board members said they still had questions that had never been answered.
Also, Mike from FCMAT stated the district’s property tax advance had not been consistently included in the data. If I understood correctly, he said worst case scenario, if nothing changed, receivership could begin in about a year, not “possibly before the next board meeting” as Dr. Jag had opined on Facebook on May 6. FCMAT also noted there was an option using interfund transfers that could potentially keep the district operating for nearly two years if there was no additional spending, which would have allowed the board more time to properly evaluate each position staffing cut proposals impact to students and explore alternatives and other areas to cut.
Despite this, the cuts were still pushed through. The students most impacted will likely be those facing economic hardship, those with learning difficulties, mental health challenges, and largely those with special education needs.
It was alarming to see armed security at those board meetings, something that had never been necessary before, along with noting the added expense at a time when the district is already struggling financially.
I was deeply disappointed that the board under Dr. Jag’s leadership refused an independent audit, despite requests from the community and Trustee Mary Rocha.
In contrast, Brentwood Unified has regularly conducted independent audits under Dr. Eaton’s leadership, reflecting a more transparent and accountable approach.
I had high expectations for Dr. Jag, but after witnessing how this fiscal crisis has been handled by her and the board, I do not believe she is ready for higher office.
Dr. Eaton has demonstrated stronger fiscal responsibility and experience, and that is why I will likely be voting for him.
Antioch Unified Scjool District’s board meetings are all recorded and the videos are available to watch on the internet, if you would like to watch and decide for yourself.
Thank you!