California’s Superintendent of Equity Daniel Lee resigned in disgrace Tuesday after Politico reported the six-figure-salaried education chief works as a life coach in Pennsylvania.
California Republican Assemblyman Kevin Kiley pressed the state’s secretary of government operations Monday over whether Lee’s employment was legal.
“Mr. Lee’s taxpayer salary is more than $160,000,” Kiley wrote. “In a recent interview, Amy Palmer, spokesperson for the California Government Operations Agency, stated that ‘State employment is for California residents unless the job requires a different location.’ She made it clear that there were few exceptions to this rule.”
Update: the Superintendent of Equity has resigned. https://t.co/HoNAceudFD
— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) December 16, 2021
Lee, 51, worked as deputy superintendent for the California Department of Education with a focus on race despite living on the east coast where he runs a psychology consulting firm, according to Politico.
“State superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, who was instrumental in the hiring, has known Lee for more than two decades since they were social workers in Philadelphia and included Lee in his wedding,” the magazine reported. “The Education Department’s nonprofit affiliate initially hired Lee without publicly posting the job that now pays up to $179,832, and Lee’s 18-page resume shows no prior experience in California or relationships with school districts in the state.”
Even before the death of George Floyd in May last year catalyzed a booming industry in diversity consulting, telling firms how to adopt racist affirmative action standards had already been big business.
“Corporate America spends roughly $8 billion annually on diversity, according to a figure that gets passed around routinely — though that rough estimate was first cited in 2003, which means the true profitability of the market is uncharted,” New York Magazine’s The Cut reported this summer.
Universities and K-12 institutions, the ground zero from where standards of unequal diversity and inclusion emanate, spend far beyond their fair share, doling out tens of thousands on consultants each year. Ohio State University alone employs 132 “diversicrats” with an average salary of $77,000 per year and an annual estimate eclipsing $13 million.
This is nuts. “Diversity, equity, and inclusion” staff at Ohio State has ballooned—money spent would cover the cost of tuition for over 1,000 kids. https://t.co/kF4CAuXErP
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) December 6, 2021
