Activism

State Education Chief Thurmond Weighs Successes, Setbacks

Regarding commentary about his public visibility during the COVID-19 crisis, Tony Thurmond, State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SSPI)’s view is, “The way this job works, there’s a piece of it that people will never see. But I’d like to think that we have been the glue between school leaders, legislators, and the governor. In my role, we’ve had to be that glue between those entities, and that interplays on how decision-making happens.”

Published

5 years ago

December 23, 2021

Oakland Post

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond talks to a young student. Photo courtesy of California Black Media.

By Joe W. Bowers Jr. | California Black Media

When Tony Thurmond, State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SSPI) was elected in 2018, he became the second African American in the office since the 1849 California Constitution established it. Wilson Riles was California’s and the nation’s first Black SSPI. In 1970, he also was the first African American voted to hold any statewide office in California.

Recently, Thurmond spoke to California Black Media (CBM) about his experience as the state’s highest elected Education official. He says the COVID-19 pandemic has been the defining challenge of his tenure.

It affected everything — from requiring him to suddenly draft a revised strategy for supporting schools to keeping students and staff safe. He did this while taking steps to improve the overall quality of public education.

“March 13, 2020. March 13, I’ll never forget it,” Thurmond told CBM. He was in his office when he started to receive calls “asking ‘what are we going to do?’ as school districts announced that they were closing to mitigate the spread of the virus.

Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic forced Thurmond to delay action on the initiatives he identified as priorities when he entered office.

Opening schools safely and dealing with the specific systemic inequities, particularly experienced by students of color, had to be tackled first.

The California Department of Education’s (CDE) action plan included securing 2 million masks for schools and working with the governor’s office to obtain five million rapid COVID tests.

While schools were closed, the state’s education department supplied over 500 million meals to students and families. When vaccinations became available, CDE developed a campaign that encouraged staff and students to get vaccinated.

While it was up to each school district to decide how it would deal with the COVID-19 crisis, Thurmond hosted weekly meetings with all county superintendents to talk through plans for reopening schools safely.

As distance learning became necessary, inequities in access to technology were exposed. One-fifth of California students lacked the resources to continue their education from home, either due to no internet connectivity or not owning a computer at home — or both.

To find a solution to the problem, Thurmond assembled a committee he named “Closing the Digital Divide Task Force.”

“We put legislators on that committee by design. We knew that in order to get the attention of the internet providers, they need to see legislators,” Thurmond said.

As a result, the state was able to provide computers and hotspots, enhancing internet connectivity to over 400 school districts across nearly all of California’s 58 counties. According to Thurmond, “There is about $6 billion for building out broadband in this year’s state budget. The task force helped to lay the foundation for that.”

Thurmond points out that state law grants the SSPI limited authority over California’s public education policies, funding and infrastructure. But despite his restricted power, Thurmond views the SSPI role as much more than being a figurehead. As one of only eight statewide elected officials, voters have given him a prominent bully pulpit from which he can influence education policy.

“They said the office doesn’t have a lot of tools to get things done directly, but I felt very confident using my relationships with the Legislature and the governor that I could find a way to put a spotlight on big problems and find ways to influence them even though it would have to happen in an indirect way,” Thurmond said.

The governor and the Legislature determine state funding for education and set policy direction. The State Board of Education determines academic standards, curriculum, instructional materials, assessments, and accountability.

The SSPI has no legal authority over the 1,000 local school districts in the state. Each of the state’s 58 county offices of education — not the SSPI — approve school districts’ budgets and provide assistance and instruction on how they can improve their educational programs.

Thurmond’s main job is to run the day-to-day operations of the CDE, which has about 2,600 employees and enforces California’s education laws and regulations. It also administers federal and state education programs and oversees federal education grant compliance.

In addition, it performs certain administrative tasks, such as collecting and compiling statewide data on district spending and student performance.

In 2018, Thurmond decided to not to seek another Assembly term and run to be SSPI instead. That way, he could work full time on education issues. At the time, he was a two-term Assemblymember representing the 51st Assembly District in the Bay Area.

A popular politician among his constituents, Thurmond received 90% of the vote during his last Assembly election.

For Thurmond, education is the great equalizer. He says it allows children to overcome challenging circumstances and it provides paths to opportunities for all of California’s kids. He started his term as SSPI by proposing an ambitious eight-year plan to significantly boost school funding and expand early childhood education.

Beginning with his first month in office, Thurmond formed 13 transition teams with over 1,000 people. Those teams focused on his top priority: closing racial and economic achievement and opportunity gaps in a state where African American and Latino kids score below statewide standards on achievement tests.

Town halls and webinars focused on Black and Brown student achievement became the genesis for his initiative supporting funding to diversify the teacher workforce.

Now that school districts have adopted the safety protocols like masking, vaccinations, and testing necessary to stay open for in-person learning, Thurmond says he has again turned his attention to pursuing pre-pandemic initiatives.

In September, he launched a literacy goal to make sure all third-graders are able to read by 2026. He also appointed the Task Force to Improve Black Student Achievement.

Thurmond told CBM, “I feel like I’m in a place now where, like Maxine Waters says, ‘I’m reclaiming my time.’ I came to the department thinking I’d have eight years to work on third-grade literacy, and that got undercut because of the pandemic.”

Funding from the state and federal government for California’s public education is at a historic high. As a result, money is available for initiatives advocated by Thurmond like universal Pre-K and universal meals, community schools, family engagement and mental health services for students.

At his inauguration, Thurmond told the audience, “This job is the type of job where you get all the blame for what goes wrong, but you don’t have the resources to fix what needs to be fixed.”

Although at the time Thurmond was speaking generally, his observation could apply to recent criticisms leveled at him in the media about the high turnover of his senior staff.

Thurmond thinks that CDE is underfunded and insufficiently staffed to be able to handle its bureaucratic responsibilities and support the initiatives that he sees as public education priorities. He says, “I’ve taken some time to think about how to structure the organization and how to restructure it.”

Regarding commentary about his public visibility during the COVID-19 crisis, Thurmond’s view is, “The way this job works, there’s a piece of it that people will never see. But I’d like to think that we have been the glue between school leaders, legislators, and the governor. In my role, we’ve had to be that glue between those entities, and that interplays on how decision-making happens.”

Thurmond does not have a button he can push to make something happen in California public schools. But he does have a microphone to broadcast where problems are and the good news is because he has the relationships he is in a position to influence education policy for the benefit of California’s public education students.

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At the event, 16 entities signed the EIP pledge, vowing to take steps to increase public contracting opportunities in their spheres for small and historically underutilized businesses. The pledge signees included Hub International, the Port of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Port of Oakland, Robert Graham of Webcor Builders, Holder Construction, the Weitz Company, Sky Blue Builders, Hornblower, Swinerton, Luster National, Talson Solutions, Center for Community Wealth Building, and the Construction Contractors Alliance.

Published

1 week ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Toks Omishakin, secretary of the California State Transportation Agency, was one of the speakers at the event. Photo by Shellee Fisher Photography and Design.

By Calvin Naito, Special to The Post

On June 4, a national nonprofit named the Equity in Infrastructure Project (EIP) – which aims to increase public construction contracting opportunities for small and historically underutilized businesses – held a day-long event in downtown San Francisco to rally supporters and build momentum to its cause.

It was attended by more than 100 individuals from public agencies, private firms, and other organizations committed to increasing contracting opportunities with governmental agencies, thereby creating more competition and lowering public costs.

The EIP event was held the Hyatt Regency San Francisco in conjunction with BuildIT, which aims to increase contracting opportunities for LGBT-owned businesses.

At the event, 16 entities signed the EIP pledge, vowing to take steps to increase public contracting opportunities in their spheres for small and historically underutilized businesses.

The pledge signees included Hub International, the Port of San Francisco, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Port of Oakland, Robert Graham of Webcor Builders, Holder Construction, the Weitz Company, Sky Blue Builders, Hornblower, Swinerton, Luster National, Talson Solutions, Center for Community Wealth Building, and the Construction Contractors Alliance.

Following the workshop, BuildIT hosted a VIP evening reception honoring EIP, whose principals – Phil Washington, John Procari, and Rick Jacobs – accepted the award.

The event also set in motion the coalition’s efforts to implement recommendations from EIP’s “Procurement for Prosperity: A Playbook.”

The Playbook is a practical guide for public agency leaders and procurement and contracting practitioners to grow the capacity of small and first-time contractors, strengthen competition, and deliver better value for taxpayers.

Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), a long-time EIP supporter, also told attendees, “This is about commitment. This has been a life’s work. This is a tailwind moment.”

The event’s presenting sponsor was Hub International, one of the largest insurance brokerages in the nation, which was joined by partners Travelers Insurance and the State Compensation Insurance Fund.

After the pledge-signing ceremony, attendees participated in a workshop in which they examined the policies, practices, and programs needed to meet EIP goals, learned from practitioners, and identified next steps toward utilizing the Playbook.

Ingrid Meriwether, formerly of Merriwether & Williams Insurance Services (MWIS) and current president of Hub International’s Aligned Risk Management, MWIS, described the hard-fought lessons she and her MWIS team have learned over the last three decades administering contractor development programs (CDPs) for the City and County of San Francisco, Alameda County, City of Los Angeles, LA Metro, and other municipalities.

The CDPs help small and local construction firms win public infrastructure contracts with these government agencies. The program provides bonding assistance, contract financing, technical support, training, and other services to underrepresented businesses funded by public agencies who seek greater contracting participation with these firms.

Merriwether said programs like these “break down systemic barriers, create greater fairness, and save taxpayers money by enabling more competition. The contractor development programs have, cumulatively, over two decades, helped contractors access over $1 billion in bonding, supporting over $380 million in awarded contracts, and maintaining a loss ratio 250 times lower than the industry average – while saving participating municipalities more than $27 million in contracting costs as a result of enabling more competition.”

Rick Jacobs, EIP co-founder and co-chair urged attendees make plans to meet again in the near future “to continue building on this work, share progress on organizational commitments, and discuss how we can collectively advance the goals of the EIP pledge.”

For more information on the EIP and to access a copy of the Playbook, go online to https://equityininfrastructure.org/

Calvin Naito is communications manager for Equity in Infrastructure Project.

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Oakland Museum Presents Landmark Retrospective Celebrating Beloved Bay Area Artist Mildred Howard

“Poetics of Memory” coincides with a year of major recognition for Howard. In 2026, she received the California Arts Council’s 50th Anniversary Award, honoring artists whose work has shaped California’s cultural and civic life, as well as the Museum of the African Diaspora’s Artist Impact Award. In 2025, she was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship in recognition of her transformative contributions to American cultural life.

Published

1 week ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Mildred Howard. Photo by Christine Cueto for the Oakland Museum of California, 2025.

Special to The Post

The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) opened “Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory,” the first major museum survey of Bay Area artist Mildred Howard, on June 12.

The exhibition spans five decades of Howard’s influential work, bringing together immersive installations, found-object sculptures, archival materials, and new commissions that explore memory, identity, and power in American life.

Howard was born in San Francisco in 1945 and raised in the East Bay, where she went on to study Afro-Haitian dance, make and sell clothing, and experiment with collage and sculpture.

Her multimedia art practice emerged from these experiences, later becoming associated with West Coast conceptual art, San Francisco funk, and a vibrant community of artists like Oliver Jackson, Betye Saar, and Raymond Saunders. Since the 1970s, she has used found materials and family stories to explore memory—both individual and collective.

At OMCA, visitors enter “Poetics of Memory” through a series of intimate galleries featuring Howard’s early mixed-media pieces and sculptures, along with a large video projection of a number of her public artworks.

Together, they emphasize Howard’s interest in everyday objects as powerful carriers of individual and shared stories. Highlights include collages that remix images of the artist herself; found-object sculptures like The History of the United States with a few Parts Missing (2007) that address omissions in dominant narratives; and public works like “Locks and Keys for Harry Bridges” (2001) that transform urban space into a meditation on access and labor.

This culminates in a richly detailed “studio” environment, where works in progress, archival exhibition flyers, historic photographs of Howard and her community, postcards from fellow artists, and other materials offer insight into her creative process and daily life.

The exhibition then opens into a high-ceilinged, dramatically lit space that brings together Howard’s signature immersive installations. On one end, “Crossings” (1997/2026) – a field of hundreds of ceramic eggs leading to an ornate mirror – suggests cycles of birth, motherhood, and transition, while drawing on the emotional echoes of the Middle Passage. On the other end, “Blackbird in a Red Sky” (a.k.a. “Fall of the Blood House”) (2002) – a red glass shack bordered by a pond – also uses reflection and transparency to draw viewers into the work and prompt consideration of themes of identity and home.

Howard’s newest video installation, “Moving Stills” (2026), repurposes never-before-seen family footage she took as a teenager on a train trip to the American South. Projected onto cascading layers of translucent fabric that stretch across an entire gallery wall, the piece immerses viewers in a layered meditation on memory, migration, and time.

The “Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory” exhibit will be on display through Oct. 11 at the Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St., Oakland, CA 94612. Museum hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours on Fridays to 9 p.m.

This story is sourced from the Oakland Museum of California press office.

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Stop the Hate Symposium Brings Oakland Together Through Dialogue, Partnership, and Community Healing

More than a meeting and panel discussion, the annual symposium serves as a powerful example of what can happen when neighbors, community leaders, and organizations choose conversation over division, and unity over silence.

Published

1 week ago

June 24, 2026

Oakland Post

Speakers and guests at the annual ‘Stop the Hate Symposium posed with Oakland Chinatown Improvement Council ambassadors. Photo by Marcus Calloway.

By Dr. Maritony Jones, Special to The Post

With the purpose of creating safer, stronger, and more inclusive communities, and in partnership with the Oakland Private Industry Council and other community organizations, the Oakland Chinatown Improvement Council (OCIC) hosted the ‘Stop the Hate Symposium’ on June 13 at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center.

The free event featured keynote speakers, breakout sessions, cultural programming, creating a space where people from many backgrounds sat together with a shared purpose.

The turnout itself reflected the urgency and importance of the topic. The room was packed with community members eager not only to listen, but also to participate. Throughout the event, speakers shared data, personal experiences, research, and practical solutions designed to address hate, violence, social inequity, and community safety.

The keynote panel featured respected leaders and advocates, including Ray Bobbitt, founder of the African American Sports & Entertainment Group (AASEG); Ryan Takemiya from RAMA; Caheri Gutierrez from the Unity Council; honorary guest speaker Oakland City Councilmember at-Large Rowena Brown and City Councilmember Charlene Wang; representatives for Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee and U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon, with Gia Vang of NBC serving as moderator.

The symposium also offered multiple breakout sessions that addressed issues affecting communities across Oakland and Alameda County:

Session 1, 2, 3: Building Safer and More Inclusive Communities, led by Pastor Raymond Lankfort, CEO of Oakland Private Industry Council (OPIC), Jessica Kang, research manager for Stop AAPI Hate, Kara Guerra of The Unity Council, and Gabriela delaRiva of the Spanish Speaking Citizens Foundation
Session 4: Talk Story: Collective Healing and Relationship Repair, presented by Ryan Takemiya, executive director of RAMA
Session 5: Sexual Violence Prevention, presented by Tunisia Owens, interim deputy director of Realized Potential
Session 6: Violent Attacks on Teens, presented by MaryAnn Alvarado, program manager of Youth Alive

Every session contributed to an important truth: meaningful change begins within communities, through honest dialogue and a willingness to work together.

One of the strongest themes to emerge from the day was the need to create more conversations and stronger partnerships—not just during times of crisis, but consistently and intentionally. Relationships among organizations, neighborhoods, and community leaders often operate behind the scenes but are not always highlighted or celebrated.

Bobbitt spoke powerfully about this issue, noting that partnerships and relationships often go unrecognized despite being essential to community progress. He pointed to examples such as the partnership between OPIC and OCHIC, emphasizing that these collaborations deserve more visibility, investment, and expansion.

Perhaps his most memorable message resonated deeply throughout the room. Bobbitt explained that when a grandparent is attacked or harmed, the impact extends beyond race or ethnicity because today’s families and communities are increasingly multicultural and interconnected.

“We are not going to see our grandparents as just Latino, Asian, Caucasian, or African American,” he shared in essence. “We are going to see them simply as our grandparents.”

Those words reflected the heart of the symposium. Hate may target one group, but pain and loss are felt by everyone. Likewise, healing and progress are shared responsibilities.

For more information about the Stop The Hate Program visit the website: https://www.oaklandchinatownchamber.org/stop-the-hate (or) https://oaklandpic.or