Thurmond said he hoped to inspire the next generation of educators from low-income backgrounds. (photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Unified School District)

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond was honored with the Children’s Champion Award by LA’s BEST, an after-school enrichment program. The award recognizes Superintendent Thurmond’s substantial contributions to the field of education, his advocacy for greater equity in opportunities for future generations, and his unwavering support of after school programming.

“I am honored to accept this award, and I am mindful of the journey and where I may have ended up. I am extremely grateful for the educators, the faith leaders, the mentors who invested and believed in me to make the right opportunities possible,” Thurmond said. “For all of the educators that were at the LA’s BEST event, and all other educators and educators to be, I want to applaud you. You and people like you made the world possible for people like me, allowing someone from my background, someone without financial resources, someone who worked in school-based mental health and after school programs, to rise to be Superintendent of Public Instruction and be a public servant fighting for nearly six million students in the great state of California. Thank you.”

Superintendent Thurmond has made transforming California his priority. His vision and leadership secured 10,000 mental health counselors for schools and billions of dollars for wraparound services to support the whole child through community schools. Superintendent Thurmond is leading an effort to ensure reading by third grade for all students by 2026, and he has established the first statewide teacher recruitment effort, with a public service announcement and a one-stop information and referral system to help connect teacher candidates to scholarships, credentialing programs and employers with current vacancies. He is also leading a statewide effort to provide a graduation requirement in personal finance for students and has launched initiatives to close opportunity gaps for African American and Latino students, English learners, students with disabilities, foster and homeless youth and students from low-income backgrounds.