Five Questions for assembly candidates: #5 Education and recall

The day has come! This Tuesday, Feb. 15, San Francisco voters will head to the ballot box to vote on a new assembly member for District 17. Also on the ballot is a recall of three San Francisco school board members: board president Gabriela López, and members Faauuga Moliga and Alison Collins.  

For five weeks, we’ve been asking Assembly candidates what they think about different topics, and this week we decided to hone in on the state of education here and throughout California. 

The pandemic has exacerbated existing disparities in education, as students received varying levels of support while attending school remotely. What can you do, as an assembly member, to support underserved students and ensure all Californians have access to a quality education? Do you support the recall of any of the San Francisco school board members — if yes, which ones and why? 

David Campos, former Supervisor of San Francisco’s District 9 

I owe everything I have to California’s public schools. After immigrating here at 14, I learned English in public high school and the phenomenal teachers I had set me on the path of public service I am on. It breaks my heart to see our schools so chronically underfunded. Historically marginalized and underserved communities have been further marginalized and underserved by our educational system. 

We must move California from the bottom 10 states in per pupil spending to the top 10. To do that we need to elect lawmakers who will make corporations pay their fair share. I am proud to be running 100 percent corporate free so I can hold corporations accountable and fight for the funding our schools need. I’m proud we have received the support of our classroom teachers (UESF) and our City College faculty (AFT2121), who know that I will be a champion for our public schools.

Bilal Mahmood, entrepreneur and neuroscientist 

Having grown up in the public school system and as the child of a librarian, ensuring equity in our schools, especially amidst the aftershocks of the pandemic, is deeply important to me. 

First, we need to upgrade our pandemic response system in our state to ensure free 24-hour covid testing, so our schools can remain open and safe. 

Second, we need to accelerate STEM education, bring back 8th-grade algebra, which was cut, and ensure our AP education remains as well. The removal of these courses has hurt people of color the most. 

Third, we need to recall all three School Board members on the ballot for playing politics instead of focusing on SFUSD students. From keeping schools closed, to mismanaging our budget, to unapologetic anti-Asian statements, it’s time for accountability and parents can’t wait until the next election for change.

Matt Haney, current Supervisor of San Francisco’s District 6

California’s public schools need more funding. I support reforming Prop 13 to generate more tax revenue that goes directly towards local public schools. I will be a champion for wrap-around services, tutoring and personalized learning, credit recovery, smaller class sizes, and targeted support for our most vulnerable and high-needs schools and students. When a student is falling behind, we need to ensure systems are in place to catch them, especially for targeted literacy recovery. I have the background, track record, and expertise to deliver for our schools as a former School Board President. I have also visited all of our city’s public schools.

I will vote yes on the recall of Commissioner Alison Collins. The statements she made about Asian students were offensive and, combined with the lack of a real apology, are disqualifying for a sitting school board member. Further, it is unacceptable for a board member to sue their colleagues and the district — for an astonishing $87 million — during a pandemic that put the district into a fiscal crisis. 

Thea Selby,  member of City College’s Board of Trustees 

Our K-college students are suffering deeply from anxiety and depression, and suicide rates have increased during the pandemic. Students have regressed, both emotionally and educationally. 

• Enrollment is down. Instead of giving schools a “fiscal cliff” they can’t climb out of, step down funding they got during Covid-19.
• Budget for nurses and counselors.
• Support Senator Skinner’s bill to add back school buses and/or contribute to city bus systems to reduce families’ transit burden.
• Fund for school hours over the summer.
• Pay K-12 system for enrollment not attendance. Encourage attendance with extra funds.*
• Be a champion for the commercial property tax split roll. 40% of Proposition 15 was to go to public education.

I support the recall of the three BOE commissioners. I was part of a Joint Education Committee composed of CCSF Trustees, BOE Commissioners and Board of Supervisors. Two Supervisors and myself — all of us parents — urged the BOE to make a plan to get the kids back. They refused. That was unacceptable.

* California is one of a handful of states that still funds schools on attendance rather than enrollment