TMDC General Meeting
Feb 5, 2026
Nichelle Henderson, Candidate for California Superintendent of Public Instruction
Nichelle Henderson is a lifelong public school teacher with 30 years of experience, from serving
as an LAUSD paraprofessional and a Compton Unified middle school teacher to now mentoring
future teachers in the CSU system.
Raised in a union household, Henderson is a proud California Faculty Association/SEIU 1983
union leader. She currently serves on the statewide representation team and previously served
on the statewide bargaining team, as chapter vice president at Cal State LA.
Henderson was re-elected with over one million votes to the Los Angeles Community College
District Board of Trustees, where she has helped secure childcare centers, mental health
services, workforce pathways, and pay increases for educators and staff. While serving as board president, she also implemented a universal basic income program and provided free transit for all community college students.
Her priorities as State Superintendent include fully funded, fully staffed public schools;
expanded dual enrollment and workforce pathways; strengthened mental health and special
education supports; universal pre-K; and the protection of academic freedom, especially at a
time when the federal administration is seeking to undermine public education.
She is the only Democratic public school teacher and woman running for State
Superintendent of Public Instruction.