Santa Barbara Teacher Announces Bid for Superintendent of Schools

Santa Barbara Unified Physical Education Teacher Christy Lozano has announced her candidacy for Santa Barbara County Superintendent of Schools, going up against incumbent Superintendent Susan Salcido, who has held her position since 2017. 

The deadline to register for the elections was March 11, and Lozano and Salcido are now the only contenders for the upcoming June 7 primaries, before the final election in November. “Whether you’re Democrat, Independent, or Republican, if you think schools are headed in the right direction, don’t vote for me,” Lozano told the Independent. “But if you think our schools are headed in the wrong direction and you want a reset and rethink of school policies…then I am your candidate.”

Lozano has been a teacher in the Santa Barbara Unified School District for 18 years, and recently gained some public attention after posting a video to YouTube titled “Password-Protected Portal: Culturally Responsive Curriculum — What Parents Should Know” on January 15. The video involves Lozano criticizing the school district’s  “culturally responsible curriculum,” specifically arguing against resources aimed at educating teachers about antiracism. School spokesperson Nick Masuda said there is no “culturally responsive curriculum” at Santa Barbara Unified but an assortment of resources for teachers to reference when discussing topics such as autism, gender issues, race, and sexuality. 

In the video, Lozano is mostly going through the resources on discussing race and antiracism. She later appeared on Laura Ingraham’s show, The Ingraham Angle, on Fox News, calling the resources “divisive, cruel, and misguided.” In her video and in subsequent media interviews, Lozano frequently insists the resources are taught directly to students as young as 4, though district officials have claimed this is outright false. Independent columnist Starshine Roshell wrote a response to the video and Lozano’s appearance on The Ingraham Angle. 

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