Meet the S.F. school board candidates: Do you support dipping into reserves?

One of the most controversial — though exceedingly complicated — questions San Francisco school board commissioners and district officials faced during educators’ historic four-day walkout in February was whether or not the district should dip into its approximately $400 million reserve of one-time funds. 

Ultimately, the district decided to do so, with the backing of Board President Phil Kim, and used a large portion of the reserves to pay for teachers’ demands, including fully funded healthcare and a salary bump, potentially depleting this funding source by 2028. That staved off the strike as it threatened to enter its second week. 

The San Francisco Unified School District argued that using one-time funds for ongoing expenses could lead SFUSD, which is currently overseen by the California Department of Education, into even more financial trouble, potentially leading to layoffs in the future. 

The United Educators of San Francisco, the driving force behind the strike, advocated for the district to use these funds, which have collected over the years in the district’s bank account, to pay for teachers’ demands long since bargaining began last year. 

“Public funding requires public money,” said union president Cassondra Curiel to Mission Local during the February strike. “As long as we’re not violating the law, I don’t see what the problem is.” 

Virginia Cheung, who is in the running for Kim’s seat, joined UESF on the picket lines, and shortly after announced her candidacy — with the union’s backing. But when asked whether she supports using these funds for ongoing expenses, Cheung diverged from the union. 

See how other candidates answered this week’s question below: Do you support dipping into reserve funding to pay for ongoing expenses?

Mission Local color codes the answers to yes/no questions. A blue background means the candidate answered yes, an orange background means no, and a yellow background means that the candidate answered ambiguously.

Phil Kim

• Job: Deputy director and chief of staff at the San Francisco Human Rights Commission
• Age: 35
• Residency: San Francisco
• Education: PhD in Education, University of California, Berkeley; master’s in urban education policy from Loyola Marymount University; bachelor’s in neuroscience from Bucknell University
• SFUSD Experience: Charter school educator, SFUSD administrator and current school board president

As board president, I’ve fought hard to pull SFUSD back from the brink of fiscal insolvency. The compensation agreement we reached with our teachers after this February’s strike was right and necessary — and it makes disciplined budgeting more critical than ever. 

The best way to honor that commitment long-term is to run a financially sustainable district. We must responsibly use our ongoing revenues to cover ongoing expenses: spending one-time dollars on permanent costs is a one-way street toward the kind of crisis we’ve worked so hard to overcome. Our educators and students deserve better than that cycle repeating itself.

Endorsed by: Mayor Daniel Lurie, Senator Scott Wiener, Assemblymember Matt Haney, Assemblymember Catherine Stefani, San Francisco Democratic Party … read more here.

Virginia Cheung

• Job: Nonprofit executive
• Age: 42
• Residency: San Francisco
• Education: Bachelor’s from the University of California, Irvine in social ecology
• SFUSD Experience: Parent of child at Alice Fong Yu, former director of Wu Yee Children’s Services

I do not support using reserves for ongoing expenses except in true emergencies. Reserves exist to protect the district from economic downturns and unexpected costs, not to cover structural deficits or recurring spending.

At the same time, decisions about how much we hold in reserves should include transparent engagement with families, educators, and stakeholders. Over-accumulating reserves while programs are cut can undermine trust and compromise the quality of education students receive today.

Reserves can be used strategically and with public accountability for one-time investments that stabilize schools, such as bridging programs and staffing gaps, but not as a long-term solution.

See Cheung’s full response here.

Endorsed by: United Educators of San Francisco, San Francisco Green Party, Supervisor Connie Chan, S.F. Public Defender Mano Raju, Phil Ting, Norman Yee, Eric Mar … read more here.

Brandee Marckmann

• Job: Director of parent-led group
• Age: 53
• Residency: San Francisco
• Education: Bachelor’s in English and French from Central College
• SFUSD Experience: Parent of SFUSD student

Yes. I believe that in the richest city, in the richest state in the country, our educators should be paid a living wage. I support using reserve funding to do so.

There are other ways to raise revenue for SFUSD, like reforming Prop. 13 so large commercial properties pay their fair share. We could also spend existing revenue more wisely, including not spending millions on outside contractors. I’m very troubled that this week, the school board is voting on a contract to pay outside contractors $211/hour. That is not something I think we should be spending our reserves on. 

Endorsed by: Harvey Milk Democratic Club, SEIU 1021, Supervisor Shamann Walton, Supervisor Jackie Fielder, Dean Preston, Aaron Peskin, Mark Leno, Tom Ammiano … read more here.

Answers may be lightly edited for formatting, spelling, and grammar. If you have questions for the candidates, please let us know at marina@missionlocal.com. 

You can register to vote via the sf.gov website.