By Colton McAllister, State Politics Reporter

An executive director making nearly $900,000, a $7.3 million deficit, and mass layoffs at the California Academy of Sciences are raising questions about the 100 plus year old insitution’s management and future. The Academy is now laying off 53 employees amid ongoing financial strains while its former executive director left with roughly $880,000 in annual compensation and access to an $8 million mansion in Pacific Heights.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has called for an investigation, and one supervisor is moving to freeze millions in city funding pending an audit.

The scandal has exposed familiar problems at the institution, and ties to larger questions plaguing statewide science initiatives. State Sen. Scott Wiener previously secured funding for the Academy’s climate education initiatives. Governor Gavin Newsom signed Proposition 4, which directed additional state support to the institution’s collections work.

Questions about how these funds have been spent reflect a wider pattern in California. The state launched the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine with $3 billion in taxpayer funds as a political counter to federal stem cell restrictions. Last year, the Institute closed its Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPSC) biobank due to exploding costs and failure to produce the types of landmark cures once promised by boosters. Currently, Sacramento is advancing a $12 billion science research bond to address perceived shortfalls in federal support.

California Democrats routinely present themselves as champions of science but limited results and weak accountability have led critics to ask whether the purpose of these initiatives is really about science or simply about making a political statement.

“Are they interested in life sciences, physical sciences, or political sciences?” asked one local political analyst.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Newsom imposed strict public health rules while violating them personally at the French Laundry. Vaccine messaging shifted with political convenience. On issues from climate policy to basic biology, dissent is often labeled anti-science rather than engaged as legitimate debate.

Science is a method of inquiry, evidence, and revision. It is not a slogan or a perpetual funding justification. When state leaders use it primarily to announce grants and bond measures while institutions under their watch struggle with mismanagement and deficits, the gap between rhetoric and reality becomes impossible to ignore.

Californians have funded these initiatives for years, but in the wake of this latest scandal, more and more taxpayers are demanding better stewardship when it comes to the state’s science spending.

Featured image: The California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. (Wikimedia Commons / Photo by WolfmanSF, CC BY-SA 3.0)