Our Board Candidate Forum: Ensure excellence for a democratic institution
Animation of Golden Gate Bridge, houses, and school bus. Silver Jubilee...25th Anniversary...the trusted parent organization to promote the fundamental value of public education, headline reads “Board Candidate Forum” Sub headline “Ensure excellence for a democratic institution.” Description of event and date (reflected in this blog)
On Friday, November 1st @ 6pm, Parents of Public Schools of San Francisco held our Board of Education Candidate Forum: Ensure excellence for a democratic institution. Our focus was to better understand the candidate’s priorities around how to maintain the integrity and ensure excellence of the SFUSD Board of Education for a democratic institution while upholding transparency, collaboration, and accountability. We invited the community and board of education candidates to participate in this forum held over a recorded zoom communication session.
The forum asked questions about board governance as it relates to ensuring the success for all students by making decisions that fulfill legal mandates and align district systems and resources to ensure long-term fiscal stability of the district, Ie. hiring, policy making, matters related to immigrant students, students with disabilities, Black and Brown students and specialty programs).
Boards must act collectively and openly, be guided by community interests and informed by recommendations of the superintendent and professional staff (i.e. have community trust, input and collaboration). The recorded forum will be shared with our parents and community.
To hear what candidates mentioned in response to our questions, please select the link to that question below. Questions ask were with contextual information which is included below.
Opening Statement:
What draws you to want to serve as a Board of Education Commissioner?
Question 1
Theme: Public Schools are being attacked across the country-
Context: In CA, the way schools are funded impacts the capacity to operate them effectively. Here in San Francisco, several elected officials from both the Board of Education and Board of Supervisors, seemingly believe the only remedy to resource schools well is to consolidate programs. Parents and Communities are against schools’ closures and mergers, with a belief that it is a way to offer leases to other organizations and increase revenue-leaving them to feel like a commodity.
Question: What is your stance of school’s closures as it relates to San Francisco Unified School District? If you are opposed to school closures, what will you do to intervene from a governance level? And even now as a community leader? If you are a proponent, why do you feel this is the just right way for SFUSD to move forward and reallocate resources.
And last, what impacts do you think will occur to communities once schools are closed?
Question 2
Theme: AA/Latinx/Immigrant students –
Context: African American, Latinx and Immigrant students continue to be disproportionately represented in school discipline data and persistently underperforming according to academic achievement data.
Question: What do you believe are the root causes of these issues and what should be done to change outcomes for these student groups? What would you do to ensure these families’ voices are represented and their children’s needs are met?
Question 3
Theme: Students with Disabilities
Context: Students with disabilities are one of the lowest performing student groups as indicated by academic achievement data and are often subjected to bullying, harassment, and exclusionary practices. Compounded by the lack of staffing in over 60 vacancies for educators for our students;
Question: How will you ensure the success for all students by making decisions that fulfill legal mandates and align district systems and resources? Additionally, what will you do to ensure students are educated in welcoming and inclusive classroom and school environments where their educational needs are met?
Question 4
Theme: Education is the Civil Rights issue of the 21st century-
Context: Some authors have written that education is the Civil Rights issue of the 21st century and this is evident in the underrepresentation of certain student groups (African American/Black, LatinX, Students with Disabilities, English Learners, etc.) in the district’s selective enrollment high schools (i.e. Admissions Based HS like Lowell and Ruth Asawa School for the Arts) and other specialty programs.
Question: As a School Board Member, what will you do to increase representation of historically under-served and under-represented youth in these programs and ensure they experience success?
Question 5
Theme: Parents right to voice needs
Context: Recently, former Board President resigned and an SFUSD Executive Director was appointed to the school board, with no special election in sight. This action stifled the voices of thousands of public-school parents. Additionally, on October 18th, Supt Wayne resigned and 48 hours later on Monday, October 21st, a press conference was held with the mayor, local teachers’ union, local admin union, Board of Education commissioners and State Superintendent announcing that Maria Su, Executive Director of the Department for Children Youth and their Families will be the Supt of Schools for SFUSD. At the Board of Education Meeting on October 22nd, Parents and our community voiced concerns about the lack of involvement in the expectations they want to see in any Supt as well as the lack of K-12 experience and teaching, pupil services and administrative credentials. This resulted in a lack of integrity in the democracy as our institution.
Question: What are your thoughts about the Board of Education engaging parents ahead of this critical decision, given Effective Decision Making is a Guardrail of the District? What actions would you have taken if you were a commissioner during this time? What do you believe are direct or indirect consequences from this situation?
Question 6
Theme/Context: Forensic accounting must be done by an EXTERNAL agency that is not aligned with parties with conflict-of-interest connections to appointed board members who selected the past superintendent.
Question: Will you demand an external investigation into financial misconduct?
Question 7
Theme/Context: Board Committees allow transparency for contractual decisions and the district budget and operations. For example, the Building and Grounds Committee would oversee lead abatement in schools such as BVHM and Carver.
Question: Will you demand a reinstatement of these standing committee meetings such as the Building and Grounds Committee, Budget and Business Services Committee, etc.?
Please explain.
Question 8
Theme/Context: Parents and community send FOIA requests with a goal of understanding communications about no-bid contracts that pay upward of 10mill dollars. It is reported that the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests are not addressed.
Question: What will you do to make sure that SFUSD responds to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for board and staff communications about these no-bid contracts that pay upward of 10 million dollars to consultants with connection with charter schools and school closures?
Community Questions:
Closing Statement
At Parents for Public Schools, we promote the fundamental value of public education, in what ways will you promote public schools to all San Francisco children and families, so they choose SFUSD?