UTLA official criticizes California superintendent candidate Sonja Shaw

An audio recording has surfaced featuring Julie Van Winkle, a top official for the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), discussing the upcoming November election for California Superintendent of Public Instruction.

In the recording, Van Winkle, who serves as the UTLA AFT vice president and president of AFT 1021, urges members to support Richard Barrera. She describes frontrunner Sonja Shaw as a “real threat” and a “MAGA lady,” warning that her leadership would cause a “huge problem” for public education.

Shaw, the current president of the Chino Valley Unified School District Board of Education, and Barrera, the president of the San Diego Unified school board, are set to face each other in the general election on November 3.