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School Board candidates struggle to stand out on crowded stage

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With the San Francisco Unified School District readying to sail off the edge of the map, 10 of the 11 declared Board of Education candidates shared their plans on proposed school closures and the district’s mammoth budget deficit with over 100 community members at a Friday night forum. 

The 11 candidate, Lefteris Eleftheriou, didn’t attend the forum held at Gordon J. Lau Elementary School and moderated by Crystal Van and Emily Fung of Chinese for Affirmative Action.

The overcrowded stage made it de facto difficult for the candidates to differentiate themselves. 

That, however, didn’t seem to apply to candidate Matt Alexander, the only incumbent in the race. While his nine competitors cited their prior work experiences in other industries or presented their visions for education, Alexander enjoyed an unparalleled advantage as he was able to list his accomplishments as a board member.

  • A group of people sitting at a long table with a red tablecloth set in a hall, presumably at a formal meeting or event.
  • Five panelists sit at a table with a red tablecloth. Name plates in front of each person display their names. A blue backdrop is visible behind them and a bulletin board is partially seen on the left.
  • A panel of five people are seated at a table with red cloth, each with a microphone and name tag. The wall behind them displays various photos and documents. One individual in the center is speaking.

That includes increasing the amount of public comment at board meetings, writing the school district’s “first-ever policy” to guarantee immigrant parents’ right to interpretation and translation services during Individualized Education Program meetings, and securing $8 million city funding to expand an elementary school math program to prepare kids for algebra, according to Alexander, who has over two decades of experience as teacher and principal in public schools.

Furthermore, Alexander, the new board president, said that two weeks ago, when Superintendent Matt Wayne came to the board with a school closure plan, he felt more outreach work to families was needed. “So I said, ‘We’re not ready.’ And my board colleagues said, ‘We’re not ready.’ And that’s why we paused the plan,” Alexander said. The announcement of a school closures and mergers list has been delayed to October. And the board is scheduled to have a closed-door meeting Sunday morning to decide the fate of Wayne. 

When asked about solutions to the massive deficit challenge the school district is facing, Alexander talked up plans to bring in more money and spend it more wisely. He said the Student Success Fund ballot measure he worked with the Board of Supervisors now funnels  $35 million revenues to the district, and “I led the fight to reduce our oversize central office budget,” which now saves the district over $50 million a year.

Similar to Alexander, Min Chang, CEO of San Francisco healthcare organization Homebridge, shared a strong view in downsizing the central office. “In business that would not be acceptable,” she said. “Because if your customers are actually going down, you would not be increasing costs from an administration perspective.” She said she planned to look hard at the central office, both its direct costs and the indirect costs. 

Chang was also the only candidate on the stage who explicitly stated her opposition to school closures. “I don’t believe closing schools is actually the solution,” she said, because that may end up driving families away from public schools and “most likely the smaller schools, the specialty schools” will be closed. 



Source: missionlocal.org

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