SEMITROPIC, Calif. (KERO) — Wendy Castaneda-Leal, superintendent of the Semitropic school district in Kern County, is running for California state superintendent of public education in the June 2 primary.
Castaneda-Leal has spent more than 20 years working in education, now leading Semitropic, a small rural district located on Highway 46, about 13 miles west of Wasco.
During her career, she worked in communities across the country, many of them traditionally impoverished, where she observed inequities children and families face — not only in the quality of education they receive, but in accessing it at all.
"I expected to see certain environments in rural South Dakota, like no running water, no electricity, no paved roads, having to use 4x4 vehicles — trucks, in order to access the homes of certain families to get the kids to schools," said Castaneda-Leal.
As she wraps up her second year at Semitropic, Castaneda-Leal said it is those same inequities in her home community that motivated her to enter the race.
"I saw it more working here in this position in this county and having to see it day by day, seeing the inequities with the basic needs, not even in academics, um, really drove me to say, OK, this is Tony [Thurmond's] last year, this position is opening up. Let's just go for it and see what happens."
Ten candidates are running for the seat. Castaneda-Leal acknowledged she may not carry the name recognition of some of her opponents, but said her life experience sets her apart.
"Being inside of the school district and seeing these lived experiences of the students and of the families and seeing it firsthand, not only that, but also growing up myself in government housing and being the Title One student," said Castaneda-Leal. "Yeah, I don't have the name recognition or the support of you know, different teachers unions, or democratic parties, or whatever other parties. That's absolutely correct, but for me it's not about the name recognition or anything, it's about the change I'm willing to make."
The California primary is June 2.
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