Past time to fix California public instruction

That mismatch reflects a deeper problem: Leadership in the state superintendent of public instruction drawn from a familiar pool — career educators, union officials and politicians — who may be well-intentioned, but lack a record of building high-performing education systems.

Gus Mattammal is a clear departure. Over two decades, he built Advantage Testing into a nationally recognized tutoring company, expanding across the Southwest and West Coast. His work has delivered measurable outcomes: students gaining admission to top universities through disciplined, results-oriented instruction.

Unlike typical candidates, he has operated in a competitive environment where success depends on performance, not policy rhetoric.

California’s current education outcomes — ranking around 45th in math — proves that conventional leadership has failed. We require a fundamentally different approach. Gus has detailed that approach in his book, “A is for Average,” offering practical strategies to improve both educational outcomes and cost efficiency.

More importantly, he has demonstrated that these ideas work in practice for over 22 years.

I’ve seen his leadership firsthand during our time on the Midcoast Community Council: analytical, energetic and grounded in genuine concern for student success.

His background — from hardscrabble East St. Louis to degrees from Pomona and Yale — fostered his commitment to fixing our education system for those most affected by its failures.

California doesn’t need another conventional candidate.

It needs proven leadership. Vote Gus for us.

Gregg Dieguez

Montara