The scam of “equity” in schools is on display in California. More accurately, it’s on display based on what isn’t in California: its first superintendent of equity.

According to Politico, “California’s first superintendent of equity lives in Philadelphia and has a separate job there, more than 2,500 miles away from the schools he advises as one of the highest-paid officials in the state Department of Education.” Daniel Lee apparently has never lived in California, but he was given a job that was not publicly posted by the state Education Department. He was a friend of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, and apparently, that was enough.

There are some 6 million students in California’s 10,588 public schools. California politicians and governors who have lived in the state their entire lives already have little understanding about how to promote success for those students: What some “life coach” in Pennsylvania has to offer them is anyone’s guess.

But “equity” is not about promoting success or preparing students for the future. California has shown that with its desire to stamp out advanced programs and deemphasize math. What equity is really about is funneling money toward useless bureaucrats and bloated departments of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” and, in this case, your social worker buddy who lives three time zones away.

Universities across the country have shown this to be the case. Bureaucratic bloat is one of the biggest reasons higher education has become so expensive, and that bloat can be found in these “equity” departments. Many universities have more equity officials than history professors. The University of Michigan has 163 people listed as providing equity programs and services. Power Five universities, on average, have four times as many equity officials as they do compliance staff for the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Neither these bloated bureaucracies nor Lee’s six-figure salary does anything to help students. California students are not going to be any better at math or science because of a “superintendent of equity,” especially one who lives in Philadelphia. The scam of equity being pushed by Democrats is just an excuse to move around taxpayer money for politicians and bureaucrats. California is one of the most egregious examples.