Becerra, Hilton spar over California’s failing school results, vaccine mandates in CNN debate

Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton agree that the state’s education system is falling short, but the candidates for California governor offered sharply different explanations for why and what they would do about it during a one-hour debate hosted by CNN Wednesday night.

In 2025, about half of the state’s students were deemed proficient or advanced in English, while 37% were proficient or advanced in math, according to Smarter Balanced test results.

“It’s a catastrophe for our young people,” said Hilton, who blamed the poor academic outcomes on 16 years of Democratic oversight.

“California’s education system spends nearly the highest amount in the entire country for some of the worst results,” Hilton said. “We need reform and change. We need to make sure that every student reads by third grade. We need to use phonics in our school system to teach kids to read.”

Becerra blamed the poor academic outcomes on a badly coordinated education system with too much regulation. He said students should not be promoted to the next grade unless they are working at grade level, more tutoring should be provided and the state’s youngest children must be prepared to begin school.

Hilton, 47, a former strategist for British Prime Minister David Cameron and former Fox News host, is running against Becerra, 68, the former U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services under President Joe Biden and former California attorney general in the Nov. 3 election.

Becerra blasts Hilton’s plans

During the debate, Becerra lambasted Hilton over his proposals to eliminate community schools and create a savings account program similar to school vouchers that would allow parents to use taxpayer dollars to send their children to schools of their choice.

“I’ll make sure that every public dollar, taxpayer dollar that we put in our schools — and nine out of 10 kids in California go to public schools — that those dollars, taxpayer dollars, stay in our public schools,” Becerra said. “Steve Hilton wants to send those public taxpayer dollars to private for-profit schools. Not on my watch.”

Community schools are K-12 public campuses transformed into educational and social service hubs that partner with local organizations to support students and their families.

Becerra also criticized Hilton’s plan to cut taxes, which he said would take money from education. The proposal calls for eliminating the state income tax on the first $150,000 of income, with income above that taxed at 8%.

“He wants to give the richest Californians, millionaires and billionaires, a 40% tax cut, which means, of course, he’ll take it out of our schools, he’ll take it out of healthcare, he’ll take it out of housing and make the conditions even worse,” Becerra said.

Candidates clash over teachers

The strongest words from the candidates were reserved for California teachers. Becerra, who is endorsed by the California Teachers Association, said they are underpaid, while Hilton argued they should be held accountable for student outcomes. 

“None of that will happen because he is sponsored by the teacher unions that have been such a big part of the problem in California,” Hilton said.

Becerra pushed back, accusing Hilton of attacking teachers.

““I believe that the people who are supposed to train our kids should be treated like professionals,” Becerra said. “They are underpaid compared to professionals with similar education levels. He attacks them. He says they’re doing the wrong thing for our kids.” 

Differing opinions on vaccine mandates

Interviewer Dana Bash asked Hilton about a recent statement indicating he is opposed to vaccination mandates.

Hilton said he is pro-vaccine and would not be able to overturn California’s school vaccine mandates, although he doesn’t necessarily support them.

“The evidence shows as the current head of NIH (National Institutes of Health) has made clear, when you look at the data around the world, the places where the requirements, the mandates are lower, are the places where you actually have higher compliance, where parents don’t feel that they’re being bullied into doing something that they don’t want to do,” Hilton said. “And that’s what I want to see here.”

Becerra stood firmly behind the mandates, saying that measles, which was declared eradicated in 2000, has now made a comeback because of vaccine hesitancy.

“Today, the spread of measles has reached a proportion we haven’t seen since the 1960s, I believe,” Becerra said. “That’s what happens when vaccine deniers take over. And this is what’ll happen in California if you let someone who is willing to promote that type of attitude become governor of the state of California. We can’t reward those who are willing to let families die. We know vaccines work.”

This story was originally published by EdSource.