The primary will occur on June 2, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
Nonpartisan primary
Nonpartisan primary election for California Superintendent of Public Instruction
Nichelle Henderson (Nonpartisan), Andra Hoffman (Nonpartisan), and Jeff Maffly (Nonpartisan) are running in the primary for California Superintendent of Public Instruction on June 2, 2026.
I am Mr. Jeff Maffly. I hold a Master’s Degree from the University of Idaho and a California Teaching Credential with CLAD and a Bachelor’s of Arts from Saint Mary’s College of California. I also served honorably in the United States Navy. I have taught in dozens of classrooms in several districts.
Letter grades don’t motivate everyone and they are not much of an influence anymore. The CalEdCrypto program opens cryptocurrency accounts for every student in the state. Virtual currencies are frequently awarded and occasionally deducted from students.
“Learn and Earn” will inspire everyone to do homework , pay attention in class, and show up inspired to engage in the learning process.
Amnesty for California’s 150,000 undocumented students who are terrified right now. Let’s keep them safe and prepare them for bright futures. ICE officers should be hunting down law abiding undocumented families and awarding them amnesty.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Note: Maffly submitted the above survey responses to Ballotpedia on February 1, 2026.
Letter grades just aren’t as meaningful to students nowadays. The plan is to award meaningful incentives along with grades. Students are given electronic wallets to store Educational Cryptocurrency.
Principals arrange volunteer Duty Teachers to help reduce teacher student ratios.
Honestly, yes. Truancy.
I want to get everyone motivated to show up and have fun, learn some things, eat a couple good meals and go home.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Note: Maffly submitted the above survey responses to Ballotpedia on January 25, 2026.
Born in San Francisco in 1969 then moved to Berkeley where I began my schooling. Repeated kindergarten. Family moved to the East Bay Area. Attended public elementary school and one year of middle school.
Sent to private Catholic boarding school in California’s Portola Valley for eighth grade. Then two more years of secular boarding school in Danville, CA. Last two years of high school were attended at a large public school in the Bay Area.
Enrolled in Community College and began working at high end wine retailer before transferring to a four year private Catholic college in Moraga, CA.
Graduated in ‘93, earning a BA in communications with a television production emphasis. Served honorably in US NAVY and am a member of California VFW. Awarded California Multiple Subject Teaching Credential with cross-cultural language and academic development emphasis in 1998. Completed first year in Alameda, teaching English and Physical Education to a diverse group of over 200 middle school kids.
Moved to Idaho. Worked as substitute teacher while earning a Masters of Educational Leadership degree from the University of Idaho. Principal and Superintendency internship programs successfully . Seven years of contracted teaching in Idaho grades 3-5. Moved back home to California and began teaching fifth grade in Sacramento. Had some personal and professional difficulties and stopped teaching. Ready now to inspire hope and create opportunities.
Create a system of learning that appeals to all students. Replace ego and personality with diversity and enthusiasm through systemic change and community engagement.
Focus collective attention on most underperforming districts and make them not better, but the best in the world. We do this by inviting the community members (parents, businesses, and churches) to come teach classes.
Use technology to increase connectivity in the classroom, document lessons, and develop Human Intelligence Database centralized in California.
Authoring the Teacher Duty Initiative which gives principals the legal authority to summon citizens and volunteer them to complete two week teaching assignments.
I do not look up to other humans, however, there are those that possess traits that are admirable. Jesus taught us using parables. His teachings attracted and inspired audiences.
The most important characteristic for an elected official to have is being honest and real. Paradoxically, being deceitful and deceptive are the traits that get people elected. My hope is that the public is catching on to this and I can just be myself.
The SPI should make education fun and engaging for everyone. Every student should see school as a safe, non competitive environment where they plan their future happiness.
Teaching experience in a variety of school settings is key. Also, do they have solutions to problems that make sense? It seems that they do not. I do. We can make schools equal without the redistribution of tax money or creation of special learning communities. True community based teaching is my primary goal. That means parents teaching for two weeks: Lawyers teaching, athletes teaching, aerospace engineers teaching, bank tellers teaching. Everyone working together to build not just great schools but great communities.
The state ballot initiative process is out of control. We have a special election to redraw imaginary lines while one in five doesn’t graduate and not all that do are fluent readers.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Note: Maffly submitted the above survey responses to Ballotpedia on November 21, 2025.
Campaign finance summary
Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.
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