At the end of last week, SF Parent Action learned that two of our endorsed Board of Education candidates, Jaime Huling and Parag Gupta, along with candidate John Jersin, struck a deal to include candidate Matt Alexander in their slate in order to win the endorsement of UESF. We are deeply concerned about backroom political dealing that dismisses the voices of parents and the needs of children.

The candidate included in the backroom deal, Matt Alexander, does not have the broad support of the SF Parents community. Through our endorsement process, parents revealed their mistrust of this candidate as they remembered his support of recalled Commissioners Collins and Lopez, his votes to keep schools closed longer than any major district across the nation, his fake budget that put our district at risk, and his public attacks on and humiliation of parents.

San Francisco voters remember the chaos of a Board of Education installed by political power brokers. When parents across San Francisco organized, parents successfully recalled three school board members, parents reinstated a focus on academic excellence and true equity for students, parents replaced the outdated math and literacy programs with research-backed ones.

SFUSD is facing extraordinary challenges in the coming years. Kids can’t wait - they need leaders who are skilled, authentic, transparent, trusted, and who will choose to prioritize the needs and outcomes of kids over politics.

We’ve invited Jaime, Parag and John to meet with our parent community this coming Thursday. We are considering how this new information impacts our endorsements, and as always, we will listen to parents, and make sure any decisions we make as an organization reflect their input and feedback.