California superintendent candidate calls out teachers union after group leader calls her 'real threat'

Sonja Shaw, the conservative president of the Chino Valley Unified School District board, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that she would not retreat from confronting the United Teachers Los Angeles union after video emerged appearing to show a union official calling her a "real threat" and warning her election would cause "a huge problem."

Shaw is running for California superintendent of public instruction. She cited 2025 California Department of Education data showing that 46.46% of Los Angeles Unified students met statewide English language arts standards and 36.76% met math standards, meaning roughly 53.5% and 63.2% did not meet those thresholds, respectively.

"I'm not surprised the Los Angeles teachers union sees me as a threat," Shaw said in a statement. "More than half of their students still can't read at grade level, and nearly two-thirds can't do math. Instead of working to help those kids, UTLA has fought to keep parents in the dark, excused failure and protected the system that produced these results."

The clip, shared by Heritage Foundation fellow Corey DeAngelis, features a woman the California Post identified as UTLA Vice President Julie Van Winkle. In it, she discusses efforts to prevent a "MAGA lady" from leading public education and says Shaw taking office "would cause a huge problem for us."

DeAngelis said the purported criticism demonstrated Shaw's threat to union political influence, calling the leak "the best endorsement Sonja Shaw could've ever received."

UTLA has publicly endorsed Shaw's opponent, San Diego Unified School District Board President Richard Barrera, saying he has a "proven commitment" to working with educators and families and calling for a superintendent who would collaborate with unions on education funding. Organized labor has spent millions supporting Barrera; California Teachers Association Independent Expenditure Committee spending totaled roughly $5.06 million for Barrera as of September 15, compared with $10,000 in reported outside spending for Shaw, according to CalMatters analysis of Secretary of State data.

Los Angeles County Republican Party Chair Roxanne Hoge tied the dispute to Governor Gavin Newsom's recent overhaul of the superintendent position, noting that the office Shaw seeks "was stripped of most of its power."

Fox News Digital requested comment from UTLA and Newsom's office.