Tony Thurmond is California’s 28th and current State Superintendent of Public Instruction. He has been a lifelong educator, public school parent, and public servant who has served the people of California for sixteen years in elected office. At every step, Tony has kept California's kids as his top priority. He knows how to get things done and get results.
In addition to state and local funding mechanisms, I will prioritize urging the federal government to invest in California’s schools. States rely on federal funds to support essential resources like teacher training, special education, and after-school programs. In his 2018 budget proposal, President Trump proposed to completely eliminate 20 of these essential public school programs, yet he included $1.4 billion to fund public school alternatives like charter schools and private school vouchers. The budget is especially disastrous for California students, cutting $400 million from our state’s federal funds alone. This will hurt all our country’s children, and especially California’s most vulnerable students. I will not stand for it. I have not shied away from criticizing Donald Trump when he does not stand up for the values we hold most dear. In fact, I authored the resolution in the Assembly that made California the very first state to call upon Congress to censure the President following his reprehensible comments about the tragedies that took place in Charlottesville during a white supremacist rally
As Superintendent, I will: â— Continue to relentlessly fight the Trump Administration, doing everything in my power to keep him and Betsy DeVos from gutting California’s public schools â— Fight to keep public schools public by protecting California’s ban on school vouchers