Board of Education Seat
CSF Recommendation:
Phil Kim
Phil Kim is a unicorn in the often-ignored, routinely-used-as-a-political-launching-pad world of SF Education Board politics. He actually knows what he's doing! During his 12 years as an educator, with a Master's in Education Policy and currently pursuing a doctorate, he had hands-on experience running programs inside SFUSD itself before ever sitting on the Ed Board. He was appointed by former mayor London Breed, was unanimously elected board president by his colleagues and immediately got to work on the unglamorous but essential stuff, like dragging SFUSD's fiscal certification up from "negative" to "qualified." (Do we dare dream we might see “positive” one day?)
Under his watch, the board set operational standards for itself, adopted a new K-8 math curriculum, set measurable goals for 3rd grade literacy and 8th grade math proficiency and established real accountability metrics for the Superintendent for the first time in years. This is not a guy simply treating the School Board as a résumé line item on his way to something else. What a relief!
Not Endorsed
Brandee Marckmann: Never!
Brandee Marckmann's relevant experience is that of a parent-activist, not a disqualifier in itself, except for her choice of causes. She was a vocal defender of the recalled school board members who prioritized renaming schools over, you know, actually reopening them during Covid, so kids could attend school. She represents a return to exactly the governance culture San Francisco voters resoundingly rejected in 2022: identity-driven curriculum fights, hostility to accountability and combative politics that put adult ideology ahead of student outcomes. These are the same politics that produced a $114 million deficit and a payroll system that couldn't accurately pay its own teachers. Her refusal to engage with the SF Parents Action's endorsement process is itself telling. So is her circulation of a conspiratorial "spider web" graphic smearing other parents and claiming they were part of a right-wing plot. It’s clear Marckmann does not possess the collaborative temperament needed to engage a complex and diverse network of parents, families, teachers and administrators.
Virginia Cheung: Not this time.
A late entrant in this race, Virginia Cheung is the teachers union's chosen candidate to challenge Phil Kim in June, and we can expect her to run again in November for one of three open school board seats. The unions have long wielded outsized influence over the SF School Board, making it nearly impossible for moderate, fiscally-responsible candidates to break through, unless appointed by the mayor following a recall or resignation.
The consequences of union dominance and a “teachers first” approach to governance have been severe: fiscal mismanagement, damaging academic policies (the Algebra debacle, anyone?), a partial state takeover and families fleeing both the school system and the city itself for more education-driven, “children first” pastures.
Cheung claims to support a "pragmatic, data-driven approach to budgeting that puts classroom excellence as its top priority," but don't be fooled. There is little reason to believe she would be permitted to act on that vision in any meaningful way. The union went searching for a June challenger after Phil Kim declined to join them on the picket line in February, and Virginia will march in lockstep with the United Educators of San Francisco every step of the way.
There is so much work to be done to give SFUSD students and families the school district they deserve. Phil is the Obi-Wan Kenobi of the SF Education Board and is our only hope to lead SFUSD and the school board away from the dark side.