Shaping the Future of San Francisco Schools: A Look at the Board of Education Candidates
The San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) faces significant challenges, including a substantial budget deficit, potential staff layoffs, and the controversial topic of school closures and consolidations. An important election that could shape the district’s future involves the Board of Education. Four seats are up for grabs on the seven-member governing body that oversees the policies of the K-12 public school district. The top four winners will join the board. They will work with the superintendent to navigate chaos at the district, including closing a nine-figure budget deficit, laying off staff, and restarting the process of closing and consolidating schools after it was put on pause.
A District in Crisis: The Challenges Ahead
Those elected will inherit massive challenges that came to a head over the summer when state officials issued a serious warning to the district. The district's financial situation was downgraded to "negative" by the California Department of Education due to its worsening budget crisis. The deficit mounted to $400 million, prompting state intervention in the district’s financial decisions, including reviewing its hiring. The initial rollout of a school closure announcement sent parents into panic mode, with families at smaller schools concerned they would be on the chopping block. The board called an emergency meeting Sept. 22 after revelations that a hiring snafu left hundreds of special education positions unfilled to start the school year.
Adding to the turmoil, then-Board of Education President Lainie Motamedi suddenly resigned in August, citing personal health reasons. Mayor London Breed subsequently appointed educator Phil Kim to the seat. In September, then-Superintendent Matt Wayne decided to delay the announcement of the school closure list. Breed then sent in a stabilization team, led by City Hall veteran Maria Su, in an effort to rescue the district from collapse. The school closure plan sparked a huge backlash with kids and parents protesting the proposal.
The Candidates: A Diverse Pool Vying for Change
Of the 11 candidates running, only two have some level of name recognition - Matt Alexander, the current president of the board and the only incumbent running for reelection, and Ann Hsu, a former school board member appointed after the recall of three members in 2022 but who later lost reelection. The other nine candidates are business executive Min Chang, nonprofit educator Virginia Cheung, engineer and educator Lefteris Eleftheriou, affordable housing director Parag Gupta, Deputy City Attorney Jaime Huling, education foundation founder John Jersin, college student Maddy Krantz, small business owner Laurance Lem Lee, and attorney and parent organizer Supryia Ray.
The large pool of candidates split the city’s political camps and endorsements, with Alexander and Cheung securing progressive support as moderates rallied behind Ray. Chinese American candidates Lee, Hsu, and Chang are also running more on the moderate side. Earlier this year, a political fight erupted after Gupta, Huling, and Jersin formed an alliance with Alexander to win the endorsement of the progressive teacher’s union. The SF Guardians group, which led the school board recall, rescinded its endorsement of Jersin and Gupta after their alliance with Alexander, whom they accused of presiding over a series of poor decisions that inflamed the crisis at the district.
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Meredith Dodson, director of SF Parent Action, said the current school board has lost parents’ trust and no incumbents should be considered. “We really need to see a full reset to the Board of Education with this election,” she said.
Candidates' Priorities and Perspectives
The candidates bring a range of experiences and perspectives to the table, each hoping to contribute to the district's recovery and future success. They were asked their opinions on the rescheduled antisemitism workshops, the now-scrapped school closure plan and balancing the budget. Amid a crowded slate, the candidates have sometimes presented very similar answers. Candidates cited occupational and advocacy backgrounds they believe make them unique, including SFUSD experience, corporate leadership and law.
- Matt Alexander: "I’m proud that during my time on the board, I’ve been able to build bridges across political lines to get things done for our kids."
- Min Chang: “We would like to raise the performance level for our kids in the basics, from math to civics. This has to be a team effort. I think principals are an untapped resource for information on how to do that,” said Chang. “SFUSD has many suppliers. I want to shrink the number of suppliers for the district strategically and minimize indirect expenses for the non-payroll side. We could think about this and plan academic changes with several focus groups. “The skills I’ve refined here include developing a robust budget, mobilizing resources, understanding our customer base and requirements, and always listening to customers. I keep them in mind. I’ve also learned that you need more than an annual plan, but a strategic plan for the long-term.
- Ann Hsu: “I am running again because SFUSD is in a fiscal crisis, and I want to tell the truth about why we need to close schools. I want to reverse the decades of mismanagement of funds SFUSD has experienced,” said Hsu. “After the controversial comments which led to calls for me to resign, I went to Bayview and met with approximately 10 African American community leaders. “At Bertrand D. Hsu American & Chinese Bicultural Academy, we’ve found success with individualized education. We’ve adopted an AI-enabled platform that teaches math and English. It evaluates what a student has learned and then personalizes their lessons so they can learn what they have not yet covered for their grade level. Ann Hsu, a Richmond District resident, has a background in technology entrepreneurship. She served on the SF School Board for roughly a year but lost her seat in the 2022 election. Last year she founded the Bertrand D. Hsu American & Chinese Bicultural Academy, a private kindergarten through eighth grade school located at 450 Connecticut Street.
- Laurance Lee: “Avoiding a state takeover is a massive concern. We need to resolve long-term systemic problems with the district’s culture, accountability, trust, and finances. We also need to achieve better student outcomes, which will involve having better teacher trainings and curricula,” said Lee. “Students across the City aren’t coming to class, often because of mental health issues. We should bring more resources into mental health and encourage more students to come to school. We also need to improve outcomes for students with learning differences like dyslexia that are related to competency in literacy. Remaining nimble and staying a good listener as we make the transition to community-based enrollment from the lottery system is essential. Laurance Lee is a Noe Valley resident and owner of L3 Construction LLC, a San Francisco and Utah-based general contractor firm. He attended San Francisco public schools from kindergarten through high school. He’s a SFUSD Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee member and contributor to Eyes on San Francisco Board of Education, a newsletter focused on the Board’s activities.
- Supryia Ray: “I’ve taught literacy, English as a Second Language, computer skills, immigrant rights, and street law to adults and at-risk youth…in classes and workshops at community colleges, community-based organizations, and libraries,” said Ray. “So many students are in unstable, difficult home environments like I was. For me, schools were a safe, stable place where I got access to adults who mentored and encouraged me. The three issues I’m focusing on in my campaign are financial sustainability and stability, safety in the schools, and academic excellence. Parents and guardians in the City have pulled kids out to independent private schools, including Catholic schools. SFUSD used to see students return after eighth grade, coming into ninth grade. But that has declined. “I am helping with logistics and her ballot submissions,” said John Trasviña, who is volunteering on Ray’s campaign. “I am a former candidate for the School Board, having run in 2018, and am working on her behalf now because she’s been very involved in the schools for the past four years. She, above all other candidates, has shown a genuine interest in the well-being of all students. The Potrero Hill Democratic Club endorsed Ray, as did SF Guardians, a more than 9,000 parent, teacher, and community member group that led a 2022 recall of the San Francisco School Board. “Both are interested in resolving the fiscal crisis…been very much on the front lines of collaboration in working to offer alternatives to the district,” said Siva Raj, co-founder of SF Guardians. “I do have some concerns about Hsu. I don’t see how you can run a private school and be a member of the SF School Board. Every student we lose to private schools hurts every public-school kid.
- Phil Kim: "I'm proud of our city and our district for making tangible steps in the right direction to right our fiscal and operational ship. I'm humbled at the sheer amount of work that we have ahead of us and the challenges that we still feel every day. Phil Kim is running to retain his seat on the San Francisco Board of Education in the June 2026 special election. Kim was appointed to the Board of Education in August 2024 by former Mayor London Breed, and is the current School Board President. Kim spent the last 12 years in K-12 public education, as a teacher and leader in the local, state, and national levels, and with an emphasis on STEM. In his most recent role at the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), he served as Executive Director of School Strategy and Coherence within the Office of the Superintendent. Budget: Believes that the district needs a clear financial, operational, and human resources plan that demonstrates how our resources are being utilized in service of our district goals for students. He commits to governing in accordance with nationally-established best financial practices, and to holding District leadership accountable for presenting the budget clearly. Lottery system: Believes we need to do a better job sharing the breadth of opportunities to prospective parents so that families are aware of what the district has to offer. Stance on 8th grade algebra: Views algebra as "an incredibly important milestone in the trajectory of math learning for students” and sees it as critical in the early grades. Stance on school closures: Recognizes declining enrollment and increasing costs require addressing school portfolio challenges.
What is the Role of the Board of Education?
The seven members provide advice to the administration on a range of subjects and must sign off on the annual budget and key policies. The one person it can hire (or fire) is the superintendent. It’s a tough job. Board members are practically volunteers, receiving a $6,000 annual stipend.
The 2022 Recall Election: A Precedent for Change
The 2022 San Francisco Board of Education recall elections were held on February 15, 2022. The election was part of a "recall fever" during the COVID-19 pandemic in California, which saw many recall petitions leading to elections that targeted elected officials throughout California, such as the successful recall of S.F. Since 2019, the board came under national attention and criticism for a string of controversies, which generated various lawsuits, including one by the city itself.
Controversies Leading to the Recall
The first major controversy arose when the board voted to destroy the Life of Washington murals, and after a public outcry decided to cover the murals instead, which was blocked in court due to the California Environmental Quality Act. During the COVID-19 pandemic the school district kept schools closed, and was slower to open than other major districts, even as case counts were lower, prompting the city to sue the school district. In March 2021, tweets from Commissioner Alison Collins came to light that offended the Asian American community, prompting condemnation and calls for Collins to resign from many in the political community, including Mayor London Breed.
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The Board of Education approved a motion of no confidence on Collins 5-2, with Commissioners Collins and Gabriela Lopez in dissent, which removed Collins from her vice president title and her committee positions. On March 31, 2021, Alison Collins filed a lawsuit against the school district and her fellow commissioners who had voted for the motion of no confidence. On August 16, 2021, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit for having no merit.
The Recall Campaign
On February 21, 2021, Autumn Looijen and Siva Raj formed a campaign committee to recall Commissioners Alison Collins, Gabriela Lopez, and Faauuga Moliga from the Board of Education. By the petition submission deadline of September 7, 2021, recall campaign supporters submitted over 77,000 voter signatures to recall each of the three commissioners. On October 18, 2021, city officials announced that each of the three recall petitions met the minimum qualifications of 51,325 valid voter signatures.
A February 2021 poll found that 60% of registered voters supported the recall. In particular, 69% of voters who were public school parents supported it. California State Senator Scott Wiener stated that "Not only did these commissioners fail to do their jobs adequately, they engaged in abusive and disruptive behavior, interfered with the Superintendent's ability to do his job, and caused the school district to deteriorate during the pandemic." Wiener singled out Collins for her tweets against Asian Americans.
Critics of the recall called the recall a transfer of power from voters to the mayor because the mayor would appoint a replacement for each commissioner who was successfully removed from office. Collins called the recall campaign "a move toward mayoral control and less local control… for parents who are immigrants who can vote". She called the recall campaign "politically motivated" and stated that "When I see certain people getting upset, I know I'm doing the right thing". The recall is "clearly an attack on democracies", and "I'm actually really proud of my work on the board," she stated. Lopez stated that opposition to the board's actions were due to racism, "to bring down someone who is me" (a young Latina woman), and "people want us to say we regret doing what we did …
The recall campaign raised more than $1.9 million, including $400,000 from venture capitalist Arthur Rock. The anti-recall campaign raised about $39,000.
Read also: Highlights of the recent BOE meeting
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