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Welcome to โMeet the Candidates,โ where Mission Local asks supervisor hopefuls questions in the lead-up to the November election. In District 7 โ which includes the Inner Sunset, Parkmerced and West Portal โ Matt Boschetto and Stephen Martin-Pinto are running against incumbent Myrna Melgar.
It has been a rocky time for the San Francisco Unified School District, which is currently dealing with a number of woes, including pending closures, a worsening financial outlook and staffing issues. Under the “Resource Alignment Initiative,” the district is planning to close and merge selected schools, although which schools have been, or will be, selected is still unknown.
Last week, the district delayed the announcement of which schools are slated for closure, causing further disruption and anger among parents and students who have been left in the dark. On Sunday, Mayor London Breed announced that the city will intervene by sending a team of experts to support the school district and deploying $8.4 million in financial support.
This week, we asked the candidates: What are your thoughts on the SFUSD ‘Resource Alignment Initiative’?
Take a look at their responses below.
Myrna Melgar
- Job: District 7 supervisor
- Age: 56
- Housing: Homeowner
- Transport: Bike
- Languages: Spanish, French, Swedish
- Education: Bachelor’s degree, Excelsior College; master’s degree in urban planning, Columbia University
- Residency: Living in Ingleside Terraces since 2011, and lived in District 7 while in college at SF State between 1987 and 1991
As a public school parent, I am distressed about the poor financial situation of our SFUSD, and want to see decisive action and good decisions. Public information has been delayed, but what I want to see is a plan that leaves our kids set up for success, and tackles the long-term structural issues. I want SFUSD to do more of what has proven to produce better outcomes and drive enrollment: language immersion programs and K-8. So any school closures that result in more of that, and produce equitable outcomes, is what we should be aiming for.
Endorsed by: SF Labor Council, SF Tenants Union, Supervisor Aaron Peskin, Supervisor Hillary Ronen, Supervisor Connie Chan, Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, Supervisor Catherine Stefani, Senator Scott Weiner, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, SFFF Local 798 (#2)… read more here
Stephen Martin-Pinto
- Job: Firefighter/major, U.S. Marine Corps reserves
- Age: 46
- Housing: Tenant in SF, property owner and landlord in Lemon Grove, California
- Transport: Fairly evenly split between car, Muni and walking
- Languages: Spanish, Russian, Georgian
- Education: University of California, Davis
- Residency: Living in District 7โs Sunnyside since 2014, and earlier from 1983 to 1998
The fundamental question to ask is: How did we even get to this point? Lack of funding due to declining enrollment. Our schools have been mismanaged for decades, and we have spent millions of dollars on unaccountable programs with no results. Furthermore, with incidents of violence at schools such as Everett MS, and lack of ability of school staff to discipline problematic kids, many parents are pulling their kids out of SFUSD. I donโt want closing schools to be the answer, but it might have to be until we start practicing fiscal responsibility and accountability to the kids and the parents.
Endorsed by: Former District 7 Supervisor Tony Hall, former Planning Commissioner Michael Antonini, former Police Chief Tony Ribera, drug policy advocate Tom Wolf, BART Board Director Debora Allen, SFFF Local 798 (#3) … read more here
Matt Boschetto
- Job: Small business owner
- Age: 35
- Housing: Homeowner
- Transport: Car
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in philosophy, Saint Mary’s College of California
- Residency: Living in District 7 since 2014
I support SFUSDโs Resource Alignment Initiative (RAI) but am frustrated with the pace of change. Enrollment is in long-term decline, and SFUSD is in financial crisis due to poor management and state funding tied to enrollment. With excessive truancy, teacher shortages, and poor educational outcomes, SFUSD is in a vicious spiral that must be arrested urgently. This starts with making the difficult but necessary decisions within the RAI, including school closures/mergers (and selling parcels for housing redevelopment). SFUSD must stop its hand-wringing, treat this as the crisis it is, and re-establish institutional credibility to request and secure more resources.
Endorsed by: San Francisco Police Officers Association (#1), the Marina Times, SFFF Local 798 (#1), Chinese American Democratic Club (#1)
The order of candidates alternates each week. Answers may be lightly edited for formatting, spelling, and grammar.
Read the rest of the series here. Illustrations for the series by Neil Ballard.
You can register to vote via the sf.gov website.
Do you have a question for the District 7 candidates? Let me know: kelly@missionlocal.com.
Campaign Finance:
Disappointing answers. Martin-Pinto hints at the real cause which is good, although the collective ignoring of the terrible Covid policies that led to the enrollment decline continues to baffle me. I can see the dollar signs in Boschetto’s eyes (nice to know my kid’s education is just a barrier to a good real estate deal.) Melgar focuses on things that dont exist in the district and aren’t core to the main issue: The city has become unlivable for many families, to which she should be held accountable as a current supervisor.
We have the money to fix this here, hopefully we have the will to make it happen.
Hello! Yes I thought about that as well but 100 word limitations… It’s a combination of de-empahisizing the essentials (math, science, language arts) and promoting social justice as a curriculum. Also as you say, excessive COVID closures.