{"id":223096,"date":"2026-03-17T03:05:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T03:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/223096\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T03:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T03:05:08","slug":"sf-teachers-union-plots-school-board-takeover-endorses-last-minute-challenger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/223096\/","title":{"rendered":"SF teachers union plots school board takeover, endorses last-minute challenger"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a four-day strike that won major concessions<\/a> from a financially strapped school district, San Francisco\u2019s teachers union is flexing its muscle in local elections.<\/p>\n

The United Educators of San Francisco is expected to endorse Virginia Cheung, a former nonprofit fundraiser, in a bid to unseat Board of Education President Phil Kim in June.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were looking for a candidate who stood with educators during the strike,\u201d Frank Lara, vice president of UESF, told The Standard. \u201cVirginia represents the best interests of teachers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AUESF is expected to endorse Virginia Cheung. | Source: Virginia Cheung<\/p>\n

Lara said Cheung picketed alongside teachers at her child\u2019s Alice Fong Yu Alternative School during February\u2019s strike. Kim, meanwhile, largely stayed out of the spotlight during negotiations but took an unpaid leave<\/a> from his day job as deputy director for the Human Rights Commission to respond to the situation.<\/p>\n

The seven-member school board is the governing body of the San Francisco Unified School District, and its elections are down-ballot contests that typically draw little attention. Their profile has risen in recent years, however, following the 2022 recall of three progressive board members. This year\u2019s teachers strike could be another flashpoint.<\/p>\n

UESF, which has about 6,000 members and represents a strong progressive voice in city politics, plays an influential role in these races.<\/p>\n

Cheung ran for the school board in 2024 but lost. She is a contracted consultant at the early child-care center Kai Ming Head Start and previously served as a development director at the citywide organization Wu Yee Children\u2019s Services. In her previous run, she was endorsed by then-Mayor London Breed, Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, and school board member Jenny Lam. She did not receive UESF\u2019s endorsement in 2024.<\/p>\n

\"AKim gets sworn in by Mayor London Breed in 2024. | Source: Benjamin Fanjoy for The Standard<\/p>\n

Kim, who was appointed by Breed in 2024, is a former charter school educator who works in City Hall. He\u2019s active in the LGBTQ community and is considered more moderate than Cheung. His campaign has the support of several establishment groups, including the Democratic County Central Committee and San Francisco Parents Action.<\/p>\n

Another candidate is Brandee Marckmann, a progressive activist and SFUSD parent.<\/p>\n

Lara said UESF members have voted to support Cheung. While the union\u2019s executive board has not finalized the endorsement, it is unlikely to overturn the vote. The union plans to announce the endorsement in its Friday email newsletter.<\/p>\n

The move to anoint Cheung comes late in the election cycle, with the primary about two and a half months away, leaving little time to build a campaign. Cheung filed to run (opens in new tab)<\/a> March 4, just before the deadline.<\/p>\n

The June special election will fill only one seat, with the winner serving the remainder of the term until early next year. Whoever wins in June will have to run again in November to secure a full term. In that election, three school board seats will be on the ballot, with the top three finishers winning full four-year terms.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cheung, parent of a fourth grader, said many people encouraged her to run again, and she wants to fight for more resources for schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cI organized support at the picket line for Alice Fong Yu,\u201d Cheung told The Standard. \u201cI saw an incredible opportunity to work more closely with educators and connect our parents and teachers. We all want the best for our children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kim said he has had a good working relationship with union leaders, and their distrust may stem from his experience as a charter school teacher more than a decade ago. He said he remains committed to supporting teachers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand the teachers union\u2019s skepticism toward me because of my charter school background,\u201d Kim said. \u201cI\u2019m proud to be an educator and to support teachers in San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a four-day strike that won major concessions from a financially strapped school district, San Francisco\u2019s teachers union…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[27851,101,103,102,104,106,105,78003],"class_list":["post-223096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-board-of-education","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-sfusd-strike"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}