Gus Mattammal’s bid for California superintendent: tutoring, data and access
Gus Mattammal, director of Advantage Testing of Silicon Valley, campaigns for California superintendent of public instruction with a focus on using data, expanding tutoring support, and protecting the role’s influence as proposed changes loom.
Gus Mattammal is one of several candidates seeking California’s superintendent of public instruction, campaigning around a simple message: education can be the “hand up” that changes a child’s future.
From tutoring and testing to the state’s education agenda
Mattammal. 53. is the director of Advantage Testing of Silicon Valley. a tutoring and test preparation organization where he has worked for 22 years.. His pitch blends classroom perspective with a business operator’s focus on outcomes. arguing that the state superintendent role should be treated as a powerful lever for systemwide improvement.
That framing is personal as well as professional.. Mattammal has said he was one of the few students in his St.. Louis neighborhood to graduate from high school and attend college. and he has repeatedly connected that pathway to the idea that education is “not a handout.” In his campaign messaging. tutoring and targeted support are presented as practical versions of that belief—ways to help students close gaps that standardized tests and uneven access can expose.
What he says he would do once elected
Mattammal describes the superintendent position as a resource that is often underused.. He points to the impact that a struggling public school can have on a community. saying it can “punch a hole right in the heart of a community.” That concern shapes his goals: all students should be able to read a book. do math. and get ready for work—benchmarks that are straightforward to state. but difficult to deliver consistently across districts.
If elected, he says he would rely on data to guide decisions and would push the California Legislature and local school boards to act. He also plans to visit districts, assess what is working and what is not, and use those findings to generate solutions.
The emphasis on “districts as laboratories” is important in California’s education landscape. where statewide policy often has to land differently depending on community needs. staffing realities. and local capacity.. For Mattammal. those on-the-ground differences are not a distraction from reform; they are the reason the superintendent’s job should include direct learning before broad decisions are made.
A campaign built on access—and the fight over power
A key thread in Mattammal’s platform is the structure of education leadership itself.. He expressed concern about proposed changes tied to Gov.. Gavin Newsom’s approach to shifting authority to a new education commissioner appointed by the next governor.. For Mattammal. the superintendent’s scope should not be narrowed; otherwise. one of the few statewide roles designed to coordinate expectations across districts could lose influence.
His argument reflects a deeper tension in education governance: when the system’s authority is reorganized. the practical question becomes whether accountability and support remain coordinated or whether responsibilities become fragmented.. For families. that can mean shifting signals about which interventions will be prioritized—especially for students who rely on supplemental services such as tutoring. test preparation. and other forms of academic catch-up.
Why tutoring expertise is landing in the superintendent spotlight
Mattammal’s background is not the typical profile of a state superintendent candidate.. He is not running as a career district superintendent or a traditional higher-education administrator; his work centers on tutoring. educational testing. and pro bono expansion through Advantage Testing of Silicon Valley.. That matters because the state’s education debates often swing between big policy aspirations and the reality that many students experience learning gaps through day-to-day access: who gets extra help. how quickly students can be identified. and whether support is affordable.
He has also authored “A Is for Average. ” a book focused on why California’s public schools struggle and what families and communities can do to help.. Even without agreeing on every diagnosis. that style of campaigning—linking public system performance to accessible solutions—aims to persuade voters that improving student outcomes is not only a matter of compliance or funding. but of focused interventions that can be scaled.
The campaign also signals how education outcomes are increasingly measured.. Data-driven decision-making is a common theme across political races. but a tutoring/testing leader brings a particular view of what “data” should produce: actionable next steps for instruction and supports. not just reports.
The race is wide, with different kinds of experience
Mattammal is one of four candidates profiled in the superintendent race: Wendy Casteneda-Leal, Ainye Long, and Frank Lara.. Casteneda-Leal is the superintendent of the Semitropic School District in Fresno County.. Long is a math teacher in San Francisco Unified.. Lara is based in San Francisco and has taught for more than a decade. while also serving in a leadership role with United Educators of San Francisco.
Their differences highlight a broader editorial point for voters: California’s next superintendent may need to bridge multiple worlds at once—classrooms. district operations. policy constraints. and community-level expectations.. Mattammal’s approach leans toward using tutoring-style methods and testing-driven insights to push for accountability and support.. Meanwhile, other candidates bring more direct administrative or classroom-focused leadership experience.
For students and families, the stakes are immediate even before election day.. In many communities, tutoring is the safety net that families seek when classroom resources are stretched.. A superintendent who has built a career around expanding that kind of support—while also arguing for statewide authority—could shape how quickly and how broadly similar opportunities are treated across districts.
The June 2 California primary election is likely to bring sharper contrasts between candidates’ priorities, particularly around what the superintendent can and should do—and how much power the role will retain as education leadership structures continue to evolve.
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