Tony Thurmond’s Philadelphia Crony: California’s ‘Superintendent of Equity’ Forced to Resign

The California Department of Education “Superintendent of Equity” Daniel Lee, was forced to resign his $180,000-per-year job, after Assemblyman Kevin Kiley sent a letter pointing out that state employment is only for California residents, making his hiring illegal.

Last week Politico reported that State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond hired his close friend and wedding party groomsman Daniel Lee, a psychologist, life coach and self-help author, to be California’s first superintendent of equity. However, Daniel Lee lives and works in Philadelphia, owns a Pennsylvania-based psychology firm and is the president of the New Jersey Psychological Association’s executive board. Lee has also been serving as a deputy superintendent for the California Department of Education since July 2020.

Thurmond foolishly defended Lee’s hiring saying he was the best person for the job, never explaining why someone from Philadelphia was working for California’s schools, or why Lee’s position was never publicly posted, or how someone who already had a business could serve as California’s full-time “Superintendent of Equity.”

Think of the irony of the nepotism involved in the hiring of the Superintendent of “Equity.” Isn’t this fraud? Shouldn’t the Attorney General investigate?

Making matters even more curious, Politico said the “Superintendent of Equity” position and salary was funded through a $700,000 grant from the “nonpartisan” William and Flora Hewlett Foundation “for support of equity and research efforts across the state of California.”

The Hewlett Foundation awarded the grant to the Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation, a nonprofit that partners with the state Department of Education and preceded Thurmond’s tenure, Politico reported.

Here is the word salad mission statement of the Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation:

“The CDE Foundation works as a trusted partner with state education leaders and entities to create, resource, and implement solutions that result in a strong and valued public education system that serves every student in California.”

On its “Meet Our Funding Partners” page, this is the focus:

“The CDE Foundation is proud to support state-level, agency-led innovation in myriad areas of educational impact and equity. These include Education to End Hate and ongoing implicit bias and anti-racist training resources, a new Family Engagement unit, an Early Learning partnership with national and state experts, Youth Mental Health First Aid training infrastructure, the California Distinguished Schools Program, California Partnership Academies, Arts, Media and Entertainment (AME), general CDE capacity enhancements, and others in development.”

This sounds like shadow government. Some might even call it “dark money” funding a dubious position for a crony of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and programs that have little to do with actual education. And there is very little “nonpartisan” about the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, as explained by InfluenceWatch.org.

Increasingly, positions in government are being funded by nonprofit organizations. Who are the employees accountable to if these are not taxpayer funded jobs? And why are nonprofits funding government jobs if not to influence government?

Recently, Thurmond announced the formation of an Advisory Board to help guide the work of the California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP), according to the California Department of Education. “The CCSPP is a $3 billion project that will support schools that provide wraparound services for students impacted by the pandemic. Community schools integrate comprehensive, community-based services and programs that strengthen the health and well-being of students, families, and communities.”

Follow the money on this one. Who will be on this advisory board, and what will they be paid? To whom are they accountable? And why is this even needed?