First of all, we wanted to thank all of the candidates that ran for the Board of Education, whether or not they won, for having the courage to run for the school board during an incredibly challenging time for SFUSD and for bringing attention to the issues that matter most to our school communities. We know how hard the policy and politics of public education can be, and we appreciate you for choosing to prioritize our public schools.
We also wanted to extend a warm congratulations to the four winners of the Board of Education election: Matt Alexander, Parag Gupta, Jaime Huling, and Supryia Ray. We’re especially proud that three of our four UESF-endorsed candidates – Matt, Parag, and Jaime – won their campaigns for the Board of Education. They’re all visionary leaders that are passionate about making the tough decisions necessary to put our district on the path to success. Unfortunately, John Jersin, who we also endorsed, came in 5th place but he ran a strong, issues-focused campaign and we know we’ll continue to work with him in the years ahead. While we didn’t endorse Supryia Ray and still have concerns about her decision to reject our UESF Pledge for Public Education, we’re always ready to collaborate with any elected official who fights for the schools our students deserve and look forward to building a relationship with her.
Given our longstanding relationship with Matt Alexander, we also think it’s important to highlight just how impressive his victory was in this race. Even though Matt was the only experienced public school educator running for the school board and had compiled a massive list of accomplishments in his first term as a school board member, several of the most powerful and well funded organizations in our city lined up to try and defeat him. What they didn’t realize was that Matt had an enthusiastic base of educators, families, and public school allies ready to connect with thousands of voters across San Francisco to let them know why we needed to re-elect him. Thankfully, the voters recognized Matt’s leadership and lifelong devotion to public education and dismissed the misinformation some tried to spread about him and his record. Now that the election is over, we hope those organizations that leveraged their vast resources to defeat Matt can put politics and ideology aside to prioritize what’s best for students and our school communities.
Elections are critical but they’re just a starting point – we need to keep our eyes on the prize of achieving thriving and joyful school communities that support students and educators to succeed by implementing effective policies. That’s not about any one candidate or one election or whether someone identifies as a progressive or a moderate. It’s about staying focused on our students and strengthening our public schools. To that end, and with the election now in the rearview mirror, UESF will continue to hold our elected leadership accountable because our students are counting on all of us in this critical moment for SFUSD.
