It’s been a rough few years for the San Francisco Unified School District. In 2022, voters recalled three school board members after the board drew intense criticism for slow school reopenings and other controversies. Since then, declining enrollment has exacerbated a budget crisis. The district’s inability to fully staff its schools has led to the dreaded process of closing and merging them, with the names of the proposed schools on the chopping block to be revealed this month. The board faced yet another shakeup last month when then-President Lainie Motamedi abruptly resigned for “personal and health reasons.”
A majority of the board seats — four of seven — are up for grabs this November, making the race all the more important. As with other races, we took a closer look at candidates’ campaign finance filings. Here’s what we found.
1. More than 40 percent of contributions to the race come from outside San Francisco.
It has long been a fact that people who are largely uninvolved with the public school system hold outsized influence over the school board races: Less than 20 percent of San Francisco voters have kids, and many who do send those kids to private schools.
Dive into the money, however, and the external influence becomes even starker. Among itemized contributions — for which we know geographical origin — the funds from outside the city amount to $126,155, representing roughly 42 percent of the nearly $300,000 in total contributions to the race so far. And nearly 15 percent of those total contributions come from outside California entirely.
The percentage of non-San Francisco funds flowing into SFUSD school board races has been steadily increasing over recent years; in 2020, it was closer to 25 percent, while in 2022, it was 34 percent.
All of Homebridge CEO Min Chang’s funds and nearly three-quarters of the funds for Sanyo Denki sales manager Lefteris Eleftheriou come from within San Francisco — but those two are heavily self-funded. (More on that later.) Most of the remaining candidates are 40 to 60 percent funded from within the city.
Central and west San Francisco are donating more to the race than the rest of the city. Zip code 94105 is an outlier: Self-contributions from Chang, the single biggest donor in the race, are tagged with that code.
2. Jersin is vastly outraising the other candidates.
Former LinkedIn executive John Jersin has raised $102,695 — more than a third of the total contributions to the race. The second-highest fundraising candidate, deputy city attorney Jaime Huling, has raised about half that, at $52,913. Both Jersin and Huling have scored simultaneous endorsements from the progressive-leaning teachers union and more moderate groups like GrowSF.
Jersin leads the pack in identifiable unique donors, with 228 (of nearly 650 total), while Huling comes in second, with 149. When it comes to average donation sizes, the heavily self-funded candidates come out on top, as expected. But Jersin is not far behind: His average donation size is over $450 — close to the contribution limit of $500 per candidate per donor.
We have removed Chang from the following graph — she was again an outlier, with an average (entirely self-funded) donation size of $39,000. Eleftheriou is also heavily self-funded (responsible for 63 percent of the donations he has received).
3. Chang’s campaign is entirely self-funded. But for the most part, the race is powered by small donors.
Chang has donated $39,000 to herself, making her the race’s top donor. While contributions are capped at $500, candidates can contribute an unlimited amount to their own campaigns.
The other candidates who have donated more than $500 to their own campaigns are Virginia Cheung and Lefteris Eleftheriou. Cheung donated $2,508 of the $15,040 she has raised, while Eleftheriou donated $1,600 of the $2,550 he has raised. Cheung and Eleftheriou are the second- and third-biggest donors to the race, respectively.
But the school board candidates are mostly funded by small donors: $256,276 — nearly 86 percent of the total contributions — are donations of $500 or less.
4. Attorneys, representing a top occupation among donors, overwhelmingly support Huling.
More than a quarter of the nearly 650 donors to the school board race list their occupation as “not employed.” The No. 2 occupation among donors is attorney, followed by CEO, retired or teacher. Huling, who is herself an attorney, is popular among attorneys who donate — she is receiving 62 percent of the money donated by lawyers.
The familiar faces on moderate endorsement slates also have the backing of well-known tech figures in the city: Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan donated $500 to attorney Supryia Ray, while venture capitalist Jeremy Liew donated $500 apiece to Jersin, Huling and Mercy Housing chief program officer Parag Gupta.
Methodology
Data was sourced from the San Francisco Ethics Commission’s November 2024 campaign finance dashboard.
Unique donors were determined by first and last name, occupation and zip code. However, donors who gave less than $100 total are listed as a single unitemized contribution in the data, meaning unique donor counts should be interpreted as lower than the actual number. Average donation sizes were calculated as the total donations received by a candidate divided by number of donors.
If you notice errors or missing information, contact us at anne@missionlocal.com.
About the author
Burglars ransack Southern California homes while posing as deliverymen
Residents are frightened and angry as a group of suspects continue ransacking San Fernando Valley homes, leaving a trail of destruction behind.A Valley Village resident said she was stunned and shaken up after thieves targeted her home on Dec. 17 between 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.The break-in was captured on home surveillance cameras as a male suspect approached the house and appeared to be disguised as a delivery man.“Ten minutes after we left [our home], someone was knocking at the door and our dog was barking away,” she said. “Then within a minute, someone had broken into the back of the house, smashed the glass door, came in and locked the dog in a room and just trashed the house. They took all of my jewelry.”Photos of the aftermath showed drawers in every room were removed and emptied and all […]
Jim’s owners retiring, leaving future of Mission diner unclear
The mom-and-pop owners of Jim’s Restaurant on Mission Street, a community staple for over three decades, will have their last day of work this Saturday, according to the restaurant.Jim’s Restaurant announced that its owners will be retiring after Saturday. It’s unclear, however, whether Jim’s will continue operating under new management. What is clear is it will no longer be the same without Ms. and Mr. Kim. The current owners, Kim Ok Un and Kim Jung Nyun, declined to comment about their retirement or whether Jim’s would continue operating. An Instagram commenter says, “So so sooo happy for you guys!! So well deserved but Jim’s will never be the same without you”.Another says, “Legendary spot just up the street from KPOO. Thanks y’all for the decades of service to the community.”On Friday around noon, the restaurant at 2420 Mission St. between 20th and […]
Police bust man at Gwinnett McDonald’s they say tried to sell home he didn’t own
Gwinnett County police arrested a man at a local McDonald’s who they say attempted to sell a property he did not own by stealing the identity of its rightful owner.Police say 55-year-old Armond Long, of Lilburn, posed as the property owner and listed the land for sale on Zillow.The scheme unraveled when the actual owner discovered the listing while the sale was pending and contacted authorities.Records show the land was pending for $130,000 before law enforcement got involved.“He didn’t have any intention of selling that property, so he contacted local authorities,” said Cpl. Juan Madiedo.TRENDING STORIES: Authorities in Lake Havasu City, Arizona worked with Gwinnett County police to set up a sting operation.Long agreed to meet at a McDonald’s near the Mall of Georgia to sign final closing documents. An undercover Gwinnett officer, posing as a courier, handed Long documents […]
S.F. police shoot, kill Dior guard turned alleged hit-and-run driver
San Francisco police shot and killed a purportedly armed man they say they tracked down — after he allegedly hit pedestrians and a cyclist with a car on Thursday evening. Assistant Chief David Lazar, who gave a press conference this morning, said the man was believed to be a security guard at Dior, and said he discovered a firearm “on the ground” at the scene that he believed belonged to the guard. He did not give any details about whether the man was armed at the time police shot him. Lazar also could not confirm how many police officers fired their weapons at the man. The driver was allegedly driving on the sidewalk around 6:30 p.m. at Kearny and Post streets and hit two pedestrians, an 18-year-old and a 17-year-old, Lazar said, in pursuit of a man on an electric bicycle. After hitting […]
Mother of Olentangy High student that inspired sextortion bill hopes it saves lives
Editor's note: This story discusses suicide and sexual abuse. If you or someone you know is struggling, you can call or text 988.Jennifer Markus spent much of Wednesday watching The Ohio Channel as a bill to make "sextortion" a felony wound its way among lawmakers.She's a pediatric care nurse at Nationwide Children's Hospital where her colleagues have offered comfort after her son Braden Markus took his life three years ago when someone posing as a high school girl on social media asked him for intimate photos and then demanded $1,800 so they wouldn't be published.He initially refused. But within 30 minutes, the boy who loved sports and fireworks and Japanese food, who was about to get his driver's license, was gone."It's bittersweet," Mrs. Markus told The Dispatch Thursday. "Holy crap. my friends and a lot of people just got this […]
Street sheet – Mission Local
Mission Local produces enterprise reporting on San Francisco's most critical issues: police reform, corruption, public health, housing and homelessness. Learn more about us, and donate below keep us reporting.Subscribe to Mission Local's daily newsletter Source: missionlocal.org
Related
Jim’s owners retiring, leaving future of Mission diner unclear
The mom-and-pop owners of Jim’s Restaurant on Mission Street, a community staple for over three decades, will have their last day of work this Saturday, according to the restaurant.Jim’s Restaurant announced that its owners will be retiring after Saturday. It’s unclear, however, whether Jim’s will continue operating under new management. What is clear is it will no longer be the same without Ms. and Mr. Kim. The current owners, Kim Ok Un and Kim Jung Nyun, declined to comment about their retirement or whether Jim’s would continue operating. An Instagram commenter says, “So so sooo happy for you guys!! So well deserved but Jim’s will never be the same without you”.Another says, “Legendary spot just up the street from KPOO. Thanks y’all for the decades of service to the community.”On Friday around noon, the restaurant at 2420 Mission St. between 20th and […]
S.F. police shoot, kill Dior guard turned alleged hit-and-run driver
San Francisco police shot and killed a purportedly armed man they say they tracked down — after he allegedly hit pedestrians and a cyclist with a car on Thursday evening. Assistant Chief David Lazar, who gave a press conference this morning, said the man was believed to be a security guard at Dior, and said he discovered a firearm “on the ground” at the scene that he believed belonged to the guard. He did not give any details about whether the man was armed at the time police shot him. Lazar also could not confirm how many police officers fired their weapons at the man. The driver was allegedly driving on the sidewalk around 6:30 p.m. at Kearny and Post streets and hit two pedestrians, an 18-year-old and a 17-year-old, Lazar said, in pursuit of a man on an electric bicycle. After hitting […]
Street sheet – Mission Local
Mission Local produces enterprise reporting on San Francisco's most critical issues: police reform, corruption, public health, housing and homelessness. Learn more about us, and donate below keep us reporting.Subscribe to Mission Local's daily newsletter Source: missionlocal.org
Supervisor Melgar won, now the trick will be to manage her constituents’ competing interests
District 7 incumbent Myrna Melgar faced a particularly bruising re-election campaign. She squared off against significant numbers of her own constituents by supporting hot-button issues like Proposition K to close the Great Highway to cars, and upzoning parts of her district that have been previously limited to single-family housing. “If I lose this election on this issue, then that’s the right thing to do,” Melgar said in June, after a particularly contentious meeting about zoning changes coming to her district, and the rest of the city. But she didn’t lose the election. No matter the ideological differences, most of her constituents agree: She’s good at the actual work of being a district supervisor. “When I call — somebody does get back to me,” said Peggy da Silva, a West Portal resident who has reached out to Melgar’s office over concerns like city […]
SFPD arrests woman for allegedly defacing murals across city
Police officers from Ingleside Station arrested the alleged serial Mission Street mural vandal Tuesday night. She had been filmed by bystanders on Sunday defacing a mural on Mission Street by deceased muralist Mario Cid Gonzalez. Witnesses said they observed a woman matching the suspect’s description defacing that mural months prior as well. Tuesday’s arrest of 33-year-old Ana Da Costa Pereira came after the defacing of more murals that night, including one on the side of the Excelsior District’s Central Drug Store at Mission and Santa Rosa streets. Da Costa Pereira was booked into the San Francisco County jail Tuesday night at 9:22 p.m. for vandalism of more than $400 and two counts of possession of graffiti instruments.Police said that Da Costa Pereira is responsible for multiple incidents of mural vandalism up and down Mission Street. An email sent by police to […]
Fielder goes for experience and new faces for her legislative team
District 9 Supervisor-Elect Jackie Fielder’s four picks for legislative aides includes two members from current supervisor Hillary Ronen’s team, and two from the campaign team that catapulted her to a 19-point victory over her closest contestant, Trevor Chandler.Fielder’s team will be composed of Jennifer Ferrigno, Ana Herrera – both current aides to Ronen – and political outsiders Sasha Gaona and Feng Han.“I’m so excited to work with these four amazing folks who are stars in their own right and are ready to fight for our communities,” said Fielder. Fielder praised the work both Han and Gaona did in the campaign that delivered her a victory with “stunning margins.” The supervisor-elect also celebrated the experience both Herrera and Ferrigno bring to her team, “Ana and Jennifer have been serving in Supervisor Ronen’s office on some of the district’s most pressing issues, and […]
