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Do you support charter schools?

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Welcome back to the “Meet the Candidates” series for the school board, where we ask each candidate one question every two weeks. They must answer the question in 100 words or fewer. We will link to longer answers.

Eleven candidates are vying for four seats on the city’s seven-person school board. The election will take place on Nov. 5. Non-citizen parents of children living in the city are permitted to vote in school board elections, and can find information on doing so here.


On Aug. 23, then-President of the San Francisco Unified School District school board Lainie Motamedi resigned, more than two years after being appointed by Mayor London Breed, citing “personal and health reasons.” That same day, Mayor Breed swore in Phil Kim to serve on the board, and Vice President Matt Alexander became President.

Kim’s extensive background in charter education — including a more than decade-long stint as a teacher, then senior director of STEM education at KIPP charter schools — has raised concerns among the teachers union and other groups opposed to charters, and opened up questions about how public school districts should relate to charter schools.

This week, we asked the candidates:

How successful, in your view, have charter schools been when it comes to serving San Francisco students, and do you support their expansion?

Most of the candidates do not currently support expanding charter schools in San Francisco, and say the district needs to address ongoing budget problems, a decline in enrollment and school closures. But some candidates say select charter schools have succeeded in narrowing equity gaps, and can be models for how to improve public education in the city.


A digital illustration of a person with wavy brown hair, wearing a purple top, set against a pink background encircled by a black line.

Madeline Krantz

  • Job: Dual enrollment student at CCSF and SJSU
  • Age: 19
  • Residency: Inner Sunset
  • Educational background: Synergy School for K-8, Abraham Lincoln High School, experience working as teacher’s aide in synagogue and currently working toward education degree
  • SFUSD experience: Worked with SFUSD students as part of Teacher Academy at Lincoln
  • Languages: English

Several charter schools in San Francisco have been successful, and we should see what we can learn from them that could help all of SFUSD. But especially in years when we know we’re facing big budget cuts and even school closures, I don’t think we should expand charter schools if that means taking away funding from public schools that are struggling. We need to make sure we are taking care of all our students first.



Source: missionlocal.org

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