Meet the Candidates: San Francisco’s school board race

Supryia Ray

• Job: Attorney and writer
• Age: 51
• Residency: Sunset
• Educational background: Bachelor’s degree in political science and French from University of Miami, summa cum laude; juris doctor degree from Harvard Law School, magna cum laude
• SFUSD experience: Parent of two SFUSD students; Jefferson Elementary parent-teacher association leadership; parent advocate on issues such as outdoor learning and school safety
• Languages: French, some Spanish

Spending more money hasn’t necessarily resulted in better student outcomes. Indeed, SFUSD has often wasted money on consultants, ideological pursuits, and failed bespoke “solutions,” even as students — especially the most disadvantaged — have struggled with reading, math, and mental health.

To attract and keep families, we need to retain control of our school system and focus our resources on what families actually want: excellent, safe, well-run schools. SFUSD has to make substantial cuts to avoid state takeover, but how it makes those cuts matters. To build trust and understand community needs, the district needs to approach decisions about the budget, school closures/consolidations … read more here

Endorsed by: SF Guardians, SF Parent Action, GrowSF, TogetherSF Action … read more here

Matt Alexander

• Job: Community organizer at Faith in Action Bay Area, incumbent board member
• Age: 54
• Residency: Outer Sunset
• Educational background: Master’s degree in education
• SFUSD experience: Teacher and principal; current school board vice president
• Languages: English, Spanish

As a member of the school board, I led the fight to dramatically reduce SFUSD’s excessive central office spending. I co-authored the Student Success Fund, which is now bringing in $35 million annually to SFUSD schools. If re-elected, I’ll be the only educator on the board, and will make sure we don’t balance the budget on the backs of our students. I’m not interested in using the school board as a springboard for other political offices: what matters to me is that necessary budget cuts don’t weaken our classrooms, so we can give our students the schools they deserve.

Endorsed by: UESF, Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club

Min Chang

• Job: CEO at healthcare organization Homebridge
• Age: 58
• Residency: San Francisco
• Educational background: Ph.D. in international affairs and master’s degree in International Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University; master’s degree in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan; bachelor’s degrees from the University of Pennsylvania
• SFUSD experience: Doing outreach in SFUSD and attending school board meetings.
• Languages: English, Chinese, French

Near-term and longer-term actions are needed at SFUSD. The fiscal challenge can be solved by relooking at sources of funds (revenues) and uses of funds (costs). We need to maximize funding from federal, state and local sources including grants, bonds and fundraising. The SFUSD budget is >$1B but the funding is not getting to our schools; it needs to move from the administration to schools where it is needed. By streamlining the administration, implementing position control as well as indirect spend management, savings can be redirected to schools to support curriculum building, maintenance and repairs, training of educators, and supplies.

Endorsed by: The San Francisco Republican Party, San Francisco Young Republicans, The Republican Club of San Francisco, San Francisco Briones Society … read more here

Virginia Cheung

• Job: SFUSD parent, co-founder and vice president of Give a Beat Foundation (volunteer work) and previously director of advancement at Wu Yee Children’s Services
• Age: 41
• Residency: District 11
• Educational background: Bachelor’s degree in social ecology (first in family to graduate college).
• SFUSD experience: Parent of Alice Fong Yu student; Wah Mei BASE! ExCEL program Parent Advisory Board
• Languages: Basic Cantonese and Mandarin, conversational French

For the past 15 years, I’ve led nonprofit advancement initiatives, managing revenue streams and securing grants to develop educational programs to close opportunity gaps for marginalized communities. I support the superintendent’s Fiscal Stabilization Plan, which focuses on reducing deficit spending, enhancing business services, and optimizing resources while maintaining equity and excellence. To increase revenue, we must attract and retain students by promoting early education, enhancing special education programs, and offering specialized pathways like language, STEM, and arts. With Eastern neighborhoods growing rapidly, we can transform neighborhoods into innovative community hubs that integrate educational spaces into new developments to attract families … read more here

Endorsed by: Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, School Board Commissioner Jenny Lam … read more here

Lefteris Eleftheriou

• Job: Regional sales manager, Sanyo Denki
• Age: 56
• Residency: District 7
• Educational background: Bachelor’s degree in engineering, master’s degree in education
• SFUSD experience: No direct experience, but previously ran an art school in Belmont.
• Languages: English, Japanese, Greek

I owned and operated a school for eight years and my priority was ensuring the parents were happy with their children’s education.

If they were not happy, I found out why and did everything I could to remedy it.

I will do the same with our public schools, by holding in-person meetings, phone calls, or web meetings with all the parents in our district.

I will identify the top three reasons parents remove their children from our schools and do everything in my power to fix them.

For example, if children are bored and not being challenged in the classroom … read more here

Parag Gupta

• Job: Chief program officer at Mercy Housing
• Age: 46
• Residency: San Francisco
• Educational background: Bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Chicago; master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard University
• SFUSD experience: Parent of recent CIS De Avila grad; School Site Council chair; 8th grade algebra focus group; drafting SFUSD policy priorities for SF Democrats as SF DCCC member; developing financial strategy for Stupski Foundation programs to help students, including SFUSD students, complete postsecondary education
• Languages: Basic Spanish, basic French, conversational Hindi

We’ve lost 4,000 students in SFUSD over the past decade. We must re-establish trust with our families and create confidence in the school district.

Within the remaining schools after RAI [the Resource Alignment Initiative], we can incorporate advanced curriculum, CTE [Career Technical Education] pathways, and language immersion that make San Francisco unique. My family had an excellent experience at Chinese Immersion School at DeAvila. In addition, we can reform the broken school assignment process so families can predictably enroll their children in excellent neighborhood schools.

Finally, let’s not forget revenue. The school district must dedicate resources to attract and retain families and eliminate chronic absenteeism. Together … read more here

Endorsed by: UESF, SF Parent Action, GrowSF, TogetherSF Action

Ann Hsu

• Job: Head of School at Bertrand D Hsu American & Chinese Bicultural Academy
• Age: 57
• Residency: Richmond District
• Educational background: Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Penn State, Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and MBA from UC Berkeley
• SFUSD experience: Two sons in SFUSD; SFUSD Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee chair; Galileo High School PTSA president; active in recall efforts; appointed by Mayor Breed to school board in 2022 and served until early 2023
• Languages: English; Chinese, Mandarin

During my school board tenure in 2022, I learned about the district’s finances and determined that our budget problems were not due to insufficient funding but rather due to inefficient and wasteful spending.

SFUSD’s expenditures have increased for decades while enrollment has dropped and academic results have worsened. School programs continue to be funded with no metrics in place to show if they are effective. Popular programs such as Spanish- and Mandarin-immersion are not being expanded. The district does not seem interested in attracting more families and increasing enrollment.  Administrative programs, such as the payroll system, are implemented without being … read more here

Jaime Huling

• Job: Deputy city attorney, formerly in San Francisco and now in Oakland
• Age: 41
• Residency: Glen Park; previously Hayes Valley and 13 years in the Mission
• Educational background: Juris doctor degree from Stanford Law School
• SFUSD experience: Parent of SFUSD Spanish immersion school student; worked with Mission-based nonprofit ScholarMatch to help first-gen, low-income students of color attend college, including SFUSD students
• Languages: English

My kid’s school is losing its assistant principal due to budget cuts. That’s what happens when our resources are spread too thin–we can’t afford crucial staff and services.

The sad truth is that we’re on the verge of state takeover due to our budget woes. No one wants school closures, but if we don’t make the hard decisions, the state will make them for us.

I’ll fight for families to ensure that fewer schools means fully-staffed, fully-enrolled, fully-funded schools in all neighborhoods. I’ll use our money wisely so our kids can have the support and enrichment they deserve.

Endorsed by: UESF, SF Parent Action, GrowSF, TogetherSF Action

John Jersin

• Job: Co-founder of education nonprofit Jersin Foundation, previously LinkedIn executive
• Age: 40
• Residency: Noe Valley
• Educational background: California public schools from kindergarten through college; bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of California, San Diego, master’s degree in computer science from Stanford University
• SFUSD experience: Brother-in-law of SFUSD teacher; SFUSD Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee; parent of two young children who will attend SFUSD schools
• Languages: English, learning Mandarin

When I was appointed to help oversee SFUSD’s facilities spending, I found millions in potential savings after my very first meeting. After investing $5,000,000 in a central kitchen, SFUSD wasn’t using it to its full capacity. We could have and should have been producing more nutritious, better tasting meals for students, and saved loads of money.

Many hard cuts will be necessary, but due to a lack of financial experience the board has failed to capture so many easier wins like this one. With my experience and track record, I can help us do better.

Endorsed by: UESF, GrowSF, TogetherSF Action

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

There are lots of ways that we can make our schools more efficient. We can streamline purchasing, do more with digital textbooks and online classrooms, pursue grants and other new funding sources. I’m not an expert but I believe trying out new technology and working more closely with teachers and other administrators could do a lot to save money while also doing better for students. We just can’t be afraid to think differently and explore new ideas. Students today don’t think the people who run our schools care enough to be creative. We need to prove them wrong!

Laurance Lee

• Job: Small business owner, L3 Construction LLC
• Age: 54
• Residency: Noe Valley
• Educational background: Went to SFUSD K-12, bachelor’s degree in chemistry and history of science from Harvard University, graduate work at Stanford University
• SFUSD experience: SFUSD Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee, extended family who are SFUSD student and educators
• Languages: English

We can absolutely balance the budget and improve student educational experiences! That will be my entire focus for the next four years. I have frequently dug through the school district’s spreadsheets, and I called out millions of dollars of unnecessary contractor spending. I will push to make sure that the district is not wasting precious money. Every dollar we spend needs to go toward improving students’ attendance, ensuring their mental wellbeing, and growing popular programs like languages and middle-school algebra.

Endorsed by: SF Guardians, State Treasurer Fiona Ma, former School Board President Emily Murase … read more here

Deldelp Medina

• Job: Executive director at Black & Brown Founders
• Age: 52
• Residency: Mission
• Educational background: Bachelor’s degree in humanities, minor in political science
• SFUSD experience: Attended Alvarado Elementary and mother was para-educator with Spanish-speaking kids in Chinatown; kid has attended SFUSD schools; SFUSD Latinx Family Advisory Committee
• Languages: English, Spanish, French

No response received.

Endorsed by: School Board Commissioner Mark Sanchez

Matt Alexander

• Job: Community organizer at Faith in Action Bay Area, incumbent board member
• Age: 54
• Residency: Outer Sunset
• Educational background: Master’s degree in education
• SFUSD experience: Teacher and principal; current school board vice president
• Languages: English, Spanish

The number one issue in any public school system must be promoting academic excellence for all kids. I’ve already done this in multiple ways, such as working with the Board of Supervisors to secure $8 million in City funding to expand a highly effective math program. To achieve the ambitious academic goals we established in 2022, SFUSD also must stabilize our finances, fully staff our schools, and be more responsive to the needs of families. Our teachers’ union has created a public education pledge, which I support, laying out a road map to confront these and other critical challenges.

Endorsed by: UESF

Min Chang

• Job: CEO at healthcare organization Homebridge
• Age: 58
• Residency: San Francisco
• Educational background: Ph.D. in international affairs, and master’s degree in International Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University; master’s degree in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan; Bachelor’s degrees from University of Pennsylvania
• SFUSD experience: Doing outreach in SFUSD and attending school board meetings.
• Languages: English, Chinese, French

Bring solutions that address the near-term fiscal crisis and longer-term growth. Closing schools is not the only answer; it may make things worse and drive more families away from public schools. It may also make the existing schools more crowded and class sizes even larger. If we must consolidate schools, let us do it responsibly, with input from educators/families so we have the benefit of their perspectives and needs. We need to address the fiscal crisis this fiscal year, and will need to make hard decisions in the near term so that SFUSD survives; costs will need to be addressed … read more here

Endorsed by: San Francisco Republican Club, San Francisco Young Republicans, Siegel+Gale President Jason Cieslak … read more here

Virginia Cheung

• Job: SFUSD parent, co-founder and vice president of Give a Beat Foundation (volunteer work) and previously director of advancement at Wu Yee Children’s Services
• Age: 41
• Residency: District 11
• Educational background: Bachelor’s degree in social ecology (first in family to graduate college).
• SFUSD experience: Parent of Alice Fong Yu student; Wah Mei BASE! ExCEL program Parent Advisory Board
• Languages: Basic Cantonese and Mandarin, conversational French

As a candidate for the school board, I am troubled by the high rate of chronic absenteeism affecting nearly a third of (~15,000) SFUSD students, particularly in communities of color. Research indicates that substantial absences from instructional days result in reduced learning and fewer opportunities, affecting long-term outcomes. If elected, I will focus on implementing a strong plan to address this pressing issue.

My approach includes forming dedicated school-based attendance teams to identify early signs of absenteeism and provide targeted interventions. These teams will collaborate closely with families and community partners to create a supportive and inclusive school environment … read more here

Endorsed by: Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, School Board Commissioner Jenny Lam, School Board Commissioner Mark Sanchez … read more here

Lefteris Eleftheriou

• Job: Unemployed, previously electronics sales and marketing
• Age: 56
• Residency: District 7
• Educational background: Bachelor’s degree in engineering, master’s degree in education
• SFUSD experience: No direct experience, but previously ran an art school in Belmont.
• Languages: English, Japanese, Greek

My No. 1 issue is corruption surrounding the budget and spending. I plan to resolve it by hiring finance and accounting experts and auditing tax filings, bank statements, payroll records, invoices, bills, receipts, etc., and investigating any special interest groups, such as unions, nonprofits, government agencies, or private companies that may negatively influence spending. I will make this information public, and hold accountable any corrupt organizations or individuals who are using funds illegally or unethically.

Parag Gupta

• Job: Chief program officer at Mercy Housing
• Age: 46
• Residency: San Francisco
• Educational background: Bachelor’s degree with honors from University of Chicago; Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard University
• SFUSD experience: Parent of recent CIS De Avila grad; School Site Council chair; 8th grade algebra focus group; drafting SFUSD policy priorities for SF Democrats as SF DCCC member; developing financial strategy for Stupski Foundation programs to help students, including SFUSD students, complete postsecondary education
• Languages: Basic Spanish, basic French, conversational Hindi

Under regular circumstances, shrinking the achievement gap would be my top policy goal. However, considering SFUSD’s financial situation, my top priority is to demonstrate the school district is serious in remedying the projected $421 million deficit so we may avert a total state takeover. I feel strongly that the San Francisco community is best placed to decide its priorities and balance its budget. If elected, I would take office shortly after the Resource Alignment Initiative decisions will be made. Executing on the RAI plan to achieve the projected cost savings, minimize impact on families, and hold SFUSD accountable to fulfill … read more here

Endorsed by: UESF, SF Parent Action, GrowSF

Ann Hsu

• Job: Head of School at Bertrand D Hsu American & Chinese Bicultural Academy
• Age: 57
• Residency: Richmond District
• Educational background: Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Penn State, Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and MBA from UC Berkeley
• SFUSD experience: Two sons in SFUSD; SFUSD Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee chair; Galileo High School PTSA president; active in recall efforts; appointed by Mayor Breed to school board in 2022 and served until early 2023
• Languages: English; Chinese, Mandarin

The number one issue facing the Board of Education is the fiscal crisis which involves school closures. Surrounding this crisis is a lack of transparency that has created an environment of distrust and anxiety for parents.

Unfortunately, in this election, I see several candidates who appear to be cutting backroom deals to get an edge over their opponents. Will they operate in a direct and honest fashion when dealing with the District’s complex fiscal and management crisis? I doubt it.

If I am elected to the Board of Education, I will be honest and forthright in fixing our SF public … read more here

Jaime Huling

• Job: Deputy city attorney, formerly in San Francisco and now in Oakland
• Age: 41
• Residency: Glen Park; previously Hayes Valley and 13 years in the Mission
• Educational background: Juris doctor degree from Stanford Law School
• SFUSD experience: Parent of SFUSD Spanish immersion school student; worked with Mission-based nonprofit ScholarMatch to help first-gen, low-income students of color attend college, including SFUSD students
• Languages: English

As a Latina who is the first lawyer in my family, I understand the transformative power of education in our lives, families and communities. I’m the mom of an SFUSD student, and a fighter for San Franciscans. SFUSD is closing schools and is on the verge of being taken over by the state after years of financial mismanagement. I’m running to ensure we balance the budget to prioritize equity and excellence, and ensure all of our kids have the opportunities and supports they deserve. I’ll work to restore trust in and draw families back to the district.

Endorsed by: UESF, SF Parent Action, GrowSF

John Jersin

• Job: Co-founder of education nonprofit Jersin Foundation, previously LinkedIn executive
• Age: 40
• Residency: Noe Valley
• Educational background: California public schools from kindergarten through college; bachelor’s degree in computer science from University of California, San Diego, master’s degree in computer science from Stanford University
• SFUSD experience: Brother-in-law of SFUSD teacher; SFUSD Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee; parent of two young children who will attend SFUSD schools
• Languages: English, learning Mandarin

Our school system is facing a devastating financial crisis, driving the closure of potentially dozens of schools. With my background as an executive at LinkedIn and a board member at other companies, I have led organizations of thousands of people, successfully managed and resolved crises, and overseen organizations with very large budgets. As an appointee to CBOC, I have already found millions in potential savings for our schools, and I have found opportunities to increase revenue via fixes to our enrollment system. I am eager to bring urgently needed management and financial experience to the Board of Education.

Endorsed by: UESF, GrowSF

Madeline Krantz

• Job: Dual enrollment student at City College of San Francisco and San Jose State University
• 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

My biggest goal (though it might not be possible immediately) would be to increase teacher pay and spend some money to help schools with cosmetic and safety problems.

I also have an idea about implementing an age-appropriate curriculum starting in 5th grade that teaches kids basic life skills, including topics like drug safety, internet safety, basic first aid, and important life skills like financial management and stress/anxiety management. I think kids don’t learn about these kinds of things nearly enough. Adding a class like this to the standard grade school curriculum would do a lot to help SF kids … read more here

Laurance Lee

• Job: Small business owner, L3 Construction LLC
• Age: 54
• Residency: Noe Valley
• Educational background: Went to SFUSD K-12, bachelor’s degree in chemistry and history of science from Harvard University, graduate work at Stanford University
• SFUSD experience: SFUSD Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee, extended family who are SFUSD student and educators
• Languages: English

The number one issue in this election is to balance the district budget and to not have the state take us over. I will push to have the district cut costs in the central administration and elsewhere so that as much money as possible will help student outcomes and help bring up enrollment. I will call for a forensic audit of the district spending for the past few years. I will restore the public’s trust in the school district by having the district fix its problems and be transparent.

Endorsed by: SF Guardians, State Treasurer Fiona Ma, former School Board President Emily Murase … read more here

Deldelp Medina

• Job: Executive director at Black & Brown Founders
• Age: 52
• Residency: Mission
• Educational background: Bachelor’s degree in humanities, minor in political science
• SFUSD experience: Attended Alvarado Elementary and mother was para-educator with Spanish-speaking kids in Chinatown; kid has attended SFUSD schools; SFUSD Latinx Family Advisory Committee
• Languages: English, Spanish, French

At a time when there is a looming self-inflicted crisis, I want to ensure the board has good governance. Ensuring the superintendent properly manages SFUSD resources, making the school system accountable to marginalized communities. The lack of accountability, and solid process, by the central staff has been highly disappointing. From the EMpower payroll debacle to budgets and allocations being done in spreadsheets, SFUSD doesn’t have solid systems. This is no way to work in any age, but especially in the digital age.

Endorsed by: School Board Commissioner Mark Sanchez

Supryia Ray

• Job: Attorney and writer
• Age: 51
• Residency: Sunset
• Educational background: Bachelor’s degree in political science and French from University of Miami, summa cum laude; juris doctor degree from Harvard Law School, magna cum laude
• SFUSD experience: Parent of two SFUSD students; Jefferson Elementary parent-teacher association leadership; parent advocate on issues such as outdoor learning and school safety
• Languages: French, some Spanish

My No. 1 issue is the budget crisis. SFUSD is facing huge deficits due to years of overspending and putting off hard decisions. Many people don’t realize how close we are to bankruptcy. The State already has the power to veto our budget decisions, and we are at risk of takeover.

Our school system has suffered from poor leadership, management, and communication, leaving families and educators in the dark about countless issues. I will insist on transparency and hold administrators accountable for presenting credible budgets; developing and maintaining critical systems; and scrutinizing every dollar spent for its impact on students.

Endorsed by: SF Guardians, SF Parent Action, GrowSF … read more here