Stevon Cook is a third-generation San Franciscan who was “headed down a troubled path” before entering and graduating from Thurgood Marshall High School in Bayview-Hunters Point. He has served as an academic adviser for a district school and wants to continue to give back to the district, which he says helped him become a leader.
Cook is chief executive officer of Mission Bit, a computer software company that provides free technology programs to “limited access” students. He also is a founding board member of SF Achievers, a nonprofit providing scholarships and mentoring to African-American high school students in the SFUSD.
“Many issues families and residents face today — affordability, homelessness, public safety, social inequities — are challenges that I’ve had to overcome most of my life,” he said in his candidate statement.
“I will bring that unique experience and track record of success as an education and community leader to ensure I’m fighting for our families and that every student has the opportunity to unlock their potential.”
Rob Geller works in public health finance for the city. A San Franciscan for 30 years, he studied engineering at University of California, Berkeley, wrote for the Contra Costa Times and “recorded musicians and movie stars.” For 17 years he has worked for the city and county “maximizing funding for tens of thousands of residents needing mental health services.”
He said in his candidate statement he wants to make San Francisco the first large district in the nation to implement an all-organic cafeteria. Other priorities include more music teachers, more teachers of color, faster internet and more teacher housing.
His wife is a bilingual teacher and their two children attend district schools. He is chair of the James Lick Middle School Site Council.
“I come from a family of teachers,” he said on his website. “My mother and father were teachers. My brother, Lou Geller, taught History in our great District for many years. We are a working class family, trying to earn a living wage, while residing in the most expensive city in the nation. We can’t afford private school. We need Excellence in our public schools!”
Matt Haney has been president of the San Francisco Board of Education since 2013. He received a master’s from the Stanford University School of Education after studying urban development, political science and African American studies at University of California, Berkeley.
Haney said he authored a policy that supports computer science education to all students and schools and “fought for 21st century schools where all students can fulfill their potential.”
He lists his four priorities as: “Safe, supportive, and equitable schools; Relevant and engaging 21st century learning; Healthy, sustainable, and student centered schools; Supporting and empowering our educators, staff, and parents.”
“We still have big challenges ahead of us,” he said in his candidate statement. “I am committed to ensuring that every San Francisco student has access to an excellent education and a promising future.”
Ian Kalin is chief data officer of the U.S. Department of Commerce. He studied international politics at Georgetown University and began his career in the U.S. Navy as counterterrorism officer and lieutenant. Now that he is raising his children in San Francisco he wants to join the Board of Education to improve performance accountability, simplify enrollment and create budget solutions.
“We need transparent, official performance metrics,” he said in his candidate statement. “We can improve diversity and communities by reforming student assignments.” He believes that better fiscal oversight can avert the crisis of [t]eacher shortages, overcrowding, and run-down facilities” that “limit our children’s potential.”
“I grew up in a bilingual, immigrant household and my career started after the 9/11 terror attacks when I became a U.S. Navy Officer,” he said. “The skills I learned served me well; I grew clean-tech and data businesses right here in San Francisco, I led technology improvements for 200+ governments nationwide, delivering billions of taxpayer savings and creating 300+ jobs.
“Today, I modernize governments as an Appointee by President Obama. I will put these skills to work for San Francisco and strengthen our schools.”
Phillip Kim started out as a middle-school life-sciences teacher at a public school in the East Bay, and then took the position of science department chair. He serves KIPP Schools at the regional level working with 11 school across the Bay Area as innovation manager. He has a master’s in urban education policy and administration.
He is motivated to run for the Board of Education because of what he sees as the lack of educational equality in San Francisco. If elected, his priorities include focusing on teaching and learning, giving parents, students and teachers a voice, and promoting safe and inclusive schools.
“As a brother and son growing up in a low-income, first-generation American family, I am all too familiar with the challenges and struggles of access and opportunity that many San Franciscans face,” he said on his website. “As a teacher, I led a department transition to new science standards and brought innovative technologies into my classroom, while working alongside an incredibly talented and dedicated staff serving our most vulnerable students in the Bay Area.
“Now, as an educator working to support our teachers and school leaders, I have an opportunity to make a greater impact for the students and communities I serve.”
Trevor McNeil is a seventh-grade teacher at Abbott Middle School in San Mateo, and he also tutors disadvantaged students. A third-generation educator, McNiel points out that a teacher has not been elected to the Board of Education in 12 years, and says that his perspective would help maintain quality teaching and give young families and teachers a voice.
“We need to enlarge our community — potential parents, missed families, new teachers, and outreach to all our city’s diverse neighborhoods,” he said on his website. He wants to fix the lottery assignment system, support advanced coursework, fight for equity, focus on safety and pay teachers a living wage. Another priority is to “work with the strengths of San Francisco’s tech revolution and to lead the country on so many social issues in order to create the best urban public education system in the country!”
He serves on the board of the Inner Sunset Park Neighborhood Association and the city’s Pedestrian Safety Advisory Committee. He is a former officer of the San Francisco Democratic Central Committee.
McNeil has a bachelor’s in political science from Carleton College, a certificate in theological studies from the Pacific School of Religion at the Graduate Theological Union, a secondary education credential from San Francisco State University, and a master’s from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Rachel Norton has served on the Board of Education since 2009. She was vice president and then president in 2012 and 2013. For three years she was on the Community Advisory Committee for Special Education and has volunteered for the Autism Speaks Bay Area advocacy committee. She has an English degree from Barnard College and worked at the New York Times, Reuters and CNET. The Berkeley native now lives in the Richmond District with her husband two teenage daughters.
Achievements she cited in her candidate statement include sponsoring legislation to make the student-assignment system fairer and more predictable; focusing on fiscal transparency and reviewing department budgets annually, and pushing for investments in smaller classes and instructional coaches.
She offers “positions and ideas” on five key issues: curriculum and Common Core; student assignment; planning for the future; budget priorities, and special education.
“San Francisco is changing — it’s growing rapidly and income inequality is at a stunning high,” she said on her website. “Our school system has to get more nimble in adapting to change, and I’m focused on planning for the future. We need to get busy building new schools and developing a more robust recruitment pipeline for teachers and school leaders — and to do that, we must pay teachers more so that we can attract and keep our educators in San Francisco. We spend thousands of dollars per teacher on professional development each year, so every teacher we lose to a higher-paying district represents a lost investment.”
Mark Sanchez is seeking to return to the Board of Education, having served from 2001 to 2009, including two years as president. In 2008, he was runner-up in the race for the District 9 Board of Supervisors seat. Since 2011 he has been principal of Cleveland Elementary School in the Excelsior District. He is the co-founder of Teachers 4 Social Justice.
His priorities include increasing the voice of students, parents and teachers; providing high-quality universal pre-kindergarten; securing affordable housing for educators and working- class people; reducing high-stakes testing, and increasing salaries for teachers and other school workers.
“As our city continues to be one of the nation’s least affordable places to live, our educators are being pushed out in unprecedented numbers,” Sanchez said in his candidate statement. ”Students and schools desperately need continuity, stability and adequate resources to attain high academic outcomes.
“We must prioritize affordable housing. We also need someone who is knowledgeable of schools and classrooms to help the school board make the best decisions possible.”
Jill Wynns, a Bernal Heights resident for nearly four decades, has served on the Board of Education for 24 years. From 2011-2012, she was also president of the California School Boards Association.
Her priorities include after-school programs for all students and keeping the JROTC military program in schools. If re-elected to another four-year term she said she wants to “lead us to new and exciting level of achievement and joy for our students.”
She said she would also work for more competitive salaries and affordable housing for teachers.
“Today, finding housing in San Francisco is an existential crisis for teachers, and will be for the school district if we do not do something,” she said on her website. “Teaching and other school jobs cannot be outsourced; we must have a way for our employees to live in San Francisco if we are to have a viable school district for future generations.”
Our methodology
The Public Press chose to count endorsements from organizations that backed multiple candidates or ballot measures, and that made those endorsements available online. We did not count endorsements from individuals.
Some organizations endorsed a first and second choice for candidates in some races. Those preferences are not represented here.
If you think we missed an important organization, please tell us. We’d love to hear from you.
Tracked Endorsements by Organization
Published: Oct. 18, 2016
