What does the Ventura County Superintendent of Schools actually do, and why does it matter to every family in the county? Maggie breaks the role down into five key responsibilities.
The County Superintendent of Schools is one of the least understood elected positions on the ballot, and one of the most consequential. The office oversees the Ventura County Office of Education, reviews the budgets of every school district in the county, runs programs that serve the students local districts cannot serve on their own, and sets the tone for how the county supports its teachers, families, and school boards.
In this short video, Maggie walks through the five responsibilities that define the job and explains how her years as a teacher and school leader shape the way she would approach each one. The details for each responsibility are below.
"I believe it's important to be clear about what this office is responsible for, and how I would approach that work."
Maggie MarschnerUnder California law, the County Superintendent reviews and approves the budget of every school district in the county, monitors their interim financial reports, and steps in when a district is at risk of not meeting its obligations. The office is also responsible for the finances of the County Office of Education itself, which is currently under forensic audit.
Every dollar accounted for, starting with the Superintendent's own office. With enrollment falling and per-pupil spending rising, Maggie will use the office's oversight authority to keep funding in classrooms rather than administrative overhead, and publish the numbers so taxpayers can see what their investment is producing. See the fiscal dashboard.
The county office provides curriculum, instructional coaching, professional development, and data support to the county's school districts, and is responsible for providing differentiated assistance to districts that are not meeting state accountability goals for one or more student groups.
Literacy and math first. A child who cannot read by third grade or leaves eighth grade without foundational math is already behind. Maggie will focus county support on the outcomes that matter most, hold districts to honest data, and invest in people over programs. See CAASPP results by district.
The County Superintendent works across 19 school districts, local school boards, county agencies, employers, and community organizations. The office coordinates services that no single district can provide alone and represents the county's students at the regional and state level.
Parents and local communities should call the shots in their schools. Maggie's job is to make sure they have the information and the power to do that, with real transparency on what is taught and how public dollars are spent, and a county office that removes obstacles rather than creating new ones.
The county office directly operates special education programs and classrooms for students with the most significant needs, whose home districts cannot serve them on their own, and supports the county's Special Education Local Plan Areas. These are among the most vulnerable students in the county and among the most expensive to serve well.
As a school administrator, Maggie supervised 13 special education programs, and today she advises California schools on special education programs. She has spent her career with the students most systems overlook. She will build county-wide systems that include every student from the start, not as an afterthought, and measure success by what students can actually do.
The county office runs the programs that catch students who fall outside the traditional system: court and community schools, education for students in juvenile detention, alternative education, and services for foster youth, homeless students, and students who have been expelled. It also supports student health, safety, and attendance efforts across the county.
The measure of a school system is how it serves its most vulnerable students. Maggie started her career in Title I classrooms and as a literacy tutor for students who were falling behind. She knows what it takes to reach a student who has every reason not to trust that school will work for them, and she will hold these programs to the same standard of results as every other classroom in the county.
About 120,000 students attend public schools across Ventura County's 19 school districts, and roughly $2.12 billion in public money is spent on their day-to-day education every year. The County Superintendent is the one elected official accountable for how that whole system is working: whether budgets are sound, whether students are learning to read and do math, and whether the students who need the most help are getting it.
Maggie has spent her career in education as a teacher and a school leader. That experience is why she believes it is important to be clear about what this office is responsible for, and how she would approach the work. Explore the data behind each of these responsibilities and decide for yourself.
19 school districts. The Ventura County Office of Education lists 19 school districts serving transitional kindergarten through 12th grade. VCOE itself is a 20th local educational agency but is not a school district. Source: VCOE, School Districts in Ventura County.
About 120,000 students. Countywide public school enrollment for 2025-26 is 120,465, down from about 143,000 a decade ago. Source: Ed-Data, Ventura County profile (California Department of Education CALPADS enrollment).
$2.12 billion a year. The California Department of Education's Current Expense of Education report for 2024-25 shows Ventura County school districts spending $19,579 per unit of average daily attendance (ADA) on 108,509 ADA. 108,509 ADA × $19,579 = $2.12 billion. ADA is lower than enrollment because it counts students actually in attendance, which is why the per-student figure is not simply $2.12 billion divided by 120,000. Current Expense of Education covers day-to-day classroom and operating costs; it excludes facilities and bond spending, which is tracked separately. Source: CDE, Current Expense of Education and Per-Pupil Spending (county 56). See the fiscal dashboard for the nine-year trend.
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