Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation

Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation manages private donations to the California Department of Education (CDE) and collaborates with the CDE, labor unions, nonprofits, schools, and businesses to develop programs with the funding. 1 It argues the California school system has historically been and continues to be “systemically racist” and for that reason, promotes identity politics to develop initiatives within the CDE. 2

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At-A-Glance

Type: Non-profit, 501(c)(3)
Issue Areas: Identity Politics (for race-based policy/activism), Education Policy
Website: cdefoundation.org
Founded:

2011

Location: Redwood City, CA View on map
Tax ID: 45-0676449
Most Recent Filing: 2024
Budget (2024): Assets: $6,275,748 Revenue: $11,360,481 Expenses: $8,534,861

Contents

    Emails from founder Tom Torlakson, sent while was State Superintendent of Public Instruction, revealed that he had been developing a partnership between the Chinese education system and the CDE. Additional emails discovered that he was also trying to help Chinese high school students in California receive preferential admissions treatment from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). 3

    Background

    Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation describes itself as the “fiscal manager” for the California Department of Education. It was founded in 2011 by the former state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson. 4 5 It works with the CDE to develop programming funded from private donations. 5

    The nonprofit receives funding from private companies, nonprofit organizations, and several universities. 6 It describes itself as fiscal manager for the CDE, responsible for handling private donations to the agency, determining how the donations are to be used, and developing programs funded by private donations. 7

    Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation uses identity politics as a foundation for developing programs and managing donations, arguing that the school system is “systematically racist.” It also states that it accounts for the variety of gender, sexual, racial, and other forms of identity in its activities. 8

    Activities

    In addition to funding several programs, Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation holds conventions for the CDE and its employees, California state agencies, and private organizations to fundraise and collaborate on CDE initiatives. 8

    The group’s California Labor Management Initiative (CA LMI) that has been active since 2015. CA LMI has worked with more than 170 groups, partnering with labor unions and California public schools to develop practices for publicly funded schools to adopt. 9

    The California Teacher Residency Lab works with professional development programs for teachers to integrate racial equity standards in their curriculum. It funds programs to increase professional development resources for teachers and increase focus on equity. 10

    Emails from 2018 from then-Superintendent Tom Torlakson, who founded the group, revealed that he had been working with administrators from a Chinese high school in California named Pegasus California School to establish a “true partnership between our California education system and the Chinese education system.” Additional emails from Torlakson to Pegasus administrators also reveal that he had been working with UCLA admissions officials to help Pegasus students gain admission. 3

    Funding

    Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation reported on its 2020 tax returns that it had more than 100 donors that contributed $11.9 million to the foundation. 11 Some of its donors include Chevron, Heising-Simons Foundation, Seek Common Ground, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Silver Giving Foundation, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Stuart Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Thompson Family Foundation. 6

    Financial Statistics

    Total Assets

    Total Revenue

    Total Expenses

    YearTotal AssetsTotal RevenueTotal ExpensesFiling
    2024 $6,275,748 $11,360,481 $8,534,861 View
    2023 $4,752,341 $3,754,318 $5,993,356 View
    2022 $4,832,655 $4,228,461 $5,030,088 View
    2021 $5,632,923 $12,853,124 $17,444,360 View
    2020 $9,705,261 $17,109,644 $9,465,178 View

    Prior year filings: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012

    Revenue Detail

    Expenses Detail

    Employee Compensation

    • Number of Employees: 18

    Highest Earning Employees

    EmployeeTitleTotal Compensation
    Ed HonowitzCEO$163,866

    Grant Activity

    All-time grants received statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $19,205,948
    • Number of Grants: 118
    • Number of Funders: 44

    Selection of highest value grants received from the last seven years:

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $1,251,0002020 Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift FundFor grant recipient's exempt purposes
    $1,000,0002023 Gates FoundationTo support educational opportunities in California
    $1,000,0002020 StartSmall LLCSupporting the California Bridging the Digital Divide Fund, a joint effort of the Governor's Office, State Board of Education, CA Department of Education and CDE Foundation. Funds will be used to provide essential device, connectivity and related digital learning supports for PK-12 students, teachers and their families in CA to help them contend with the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis
    $1,000,0002020 Silicon Valley Community Foundation
    $750,0002020 Gates Foundationto support increased state capacity to advance educational equity
    $750,0002020 The David and Lucile Packard FoundationTo support the COVID-19 response capacity building for local education authorities initiative
    $722,0002021 RF Catalytic Capital, Inc.PARTNERSHIP TO SCALE COVID-19 TESTING
    $550,0002023 The Heising-Simons Foundationfor systemic family engagement in education in California
    $350,0002021 The Heising-Simons FoundationTo continue implementing the District Innovation and Leadership for Early Education (DIAL EE)
    $300,0002020 The Heising-Simons FoundationTo create a family engagement unit within CDE that will build the capacity of educators and parents during and after COVID-19
    $275,0002022 Elbridge Stuart Foundation DBA Stuart Foundation
    $270,0002021 TIDES FOUNDATIONQUALITY EDUCATION
    $250,0002023 The William & Flora Hewlett FoundationFOR TEACHER PIPELINE DEVELOPMENT
    $250,0002022 Elbridge Stuart Foundation DBA Stuart Foundation
    $250,0002021 The Heising-Simons FoundationFor CDE to help districts respond to disenrollment from Kindergarten
    $250,0002021 Silicon Valley Community Foundation
    $250,0002020 National Philanthropic TrustEducation
    $200,0002024 SOBRATO FAMILY FOUNDATIONTO DEVELOP A COMPREHENSIVE STATE PLAN TO IMPLEMENT THE EL ROADMAP STATE POLICY IN DISTRICTS ACROSS CALIFORNIA
    $200,0002020 The Heising-Simons FoundationTo provide essential devices, connectivity, and related digital learning supports for PK-12 students, teachers, and their families. COVID-19 Response
    $166,6452020 The Heising-Simons FoundationTo support the California Department of Education's technology needs during COVID-19
    $150,0002024 SOBRATO FAMILY FOUNDATIONTO BUILD CAPACITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE AT THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (CDE) TO HELP DISTRICTS ESTABLISH STRONG PARENT AND STUDENT PARTNERSHIPS WITH A PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON ELS.
    $150,0002022 The California EndowmentTo create health-promoting learning environments in California schools through community school strategies and connecting these strategies to efforts aimed at improving outcomes for Black students using whole child supports that focus on improving school climate and dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline.
    $131,0002023 College Futures FoundationPROGRAM GRANT
    $119,0002024 College Futures FoundationPROGRAM GRANT
    $115,0002022 The Heising-Simons Foundationfor organizational development

    All-time grants given statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $717,485
    • Number of Grants: 12
    • Number of Recipients: 11

    Selection of highest value grants given from the last seven years:

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $169,9542022 University of Southern California
    $100,1502024 San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools
    $85,3162024 Stanislaus County Office of Education
    $73,5472024 Del Norte County Office of Education
    $66,4532024 Butte County Office of Education
    $62,2272024 San Mateo County Office of Education
    $60,0002024 Santa Barbara County Education Office
    $33,8832024 Mendocino, County of
    $20,1832024 Santa Clara County Office of Education
    $20,0002022 California State Summer School Arts Foundation
    $15,7722024 California State Summer School Arts Foundation
    $10,0002024 DOLORES C HUERTA FOUNDATION

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    Financials, employee compensation, and grant information provided by Candid.

    Mentioned in this Article

    References

    1. [1] “Who We Are.” Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation. https://cdefoundation.org/who-we-are/#funders.
    2. “CDE Foundation One Pager.” San Francisco: Californians for Dedicated Education Foundation. https://cdefoundation.org/staging/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/CDEF-Onepager-2022.pdf.
    3. Einbinder, Nicole. “Emails Obtained by Insider Show How California’s Top Education Official Helped a Private School for Wealthy Chinese Kids.” Insider. June 14, 2021. https://www.insider.com/emails-obtained-by-insider-show-how-californias-top-education-official-helped-a-private-school-for-wealthy-chinese-kids-2021-6.
    4. “Governing Board Members.” California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE). July 31, 2020. https://ccee-ca.org/about/governing-board/governing-board-members/.
    5. “Home.” Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation. https://cdefoundation.org/.
    6. “Who We Are.” Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation. https://cdefoundation.org/who-we-are/#funders.
    7. [1] “CDE Foundation One Pager.” San Francisco: Californians for Dedicated Education Foundation. 2022. https://cdefoundation.org/staging/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/CDEF-Onepager-2022.pdf
    8. “CDE Foundation One Pager.” San Francisco: Californians for Dedicated Education Foundation. 2022. https://cdefoundation.org/staging/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/CDEF-Onepager-2022.pdf
    9. “California Labor Management Initiative.” Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation. https://cdefoundation.org/cde_programs/clmi/.
    10. “California Teacher Residency Lab.” Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation. https://cdefoundation.org/cde_programs/thelab/.
    11. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation. 2020. Part III, Section 4a.