Tony Thurmond tweeted that Marshall Tuck called to congratulate him on his victory in the race to become State Superintendent of Instruction in California.

At last count, Thurmond was leading Tuck by 4,632,425 (50.8%) to 4,480,240 (49.2%).

There were not enough votes outstanding to change the outcome.

First of all, congratulations to Tony Thurmond for winning and fighting clean.

Second, condolences to Marshall Tuck.

Above all, a Bronx cheer for the billionaires who thought that they could buy this office by heaping millions on the Tuck campaign, twice as much as Tony Thurmond was able to raise.

It is no secret that most of the money for Tony Thurmond was contributed by the teachers’ unions. Their money was not inherited, nor did it come from speculation on Wall Street. Their money came from the dues paid by teachers and other members of the union, as well as other unions.

This race was not between two men, but between two competing ideologies.

On one side, behind Thurmond, were the hardworking women and men who teach every day, most of them in the classrooms of California.

On the other were billionaires, who want to impose their DeVosian ideas about the free market on the public schools. They make no bones about their desire to encourage more privatization of public schools.

Tuck’s leading contributor, who gave more than $6 million, was billionaire Bill Bloomfield, a venture capitalist and a Republican. Close behind him were the Walton family (who don’t believe in paying their 1 million workers at minimum wage), Eli Broad, Doris Fischer, Arthur Rock, and Richard Riordan. It is likely that none of these people have entered a public school since they were children, if then.

In time, the full list of contributors will be published, and it is sure to include other billionaires who have taken it upon themselves to inflict their wrongheaded ideas on America’s children.

My wish is that their loss in this election humbles them, but in reality, I know that those who are billionaires never learn humility.

My wish is that they learn that the voters and parents don’t like what they are offering.

My wish is that they would find a new hobby and make a pact to pay higher taxes so that teachers might have a good salary, not only in California but in every state.

Here are some suggestion for what they might do instead of pushing charter schools: build health clinics in every poor community; support school nurses for every school; establish well-supplied libraries in every school; give schools money dedicated to buying musical instruments and hiring someone to teach music, band, and orchestra; build playgrounds where they don’t exist and pay schools to set aside time for recess and play. The best idea of all: Insist on paying higher taxes to support education! You can’t take it with you, and your children don’t need to inherit billions of dollars. It will make them lazy and ruin their lives.

There are so many useful ways that these very rich people could spend their money, ways that would help children and communities.

If they care about our national future, they would invest in good ideas instead of spending hundreds of millions to privatize public schools.

They would be revered instead of wasting their money trying to gain control of something they do not understand.

And, yes, one more thing!

Congratulations, Tony Thurmond for a race well run!