A strong public education system in Sacramento’s central city is crucial to the prosperity of the entire region. Sacramento City Unified seems primed for progress, even with the budget challenges that all school districts confront.
The school board has hired a talented and innovative superintendent. The board itself has four new members as the district switched from at-large voting to a system of seven geographic district seats.
Yet despite some hopeful signs, there’s a chance that two school board incumbents will go unchallenged in November. That’s not good for the school district or the incumbents themselves.
The seats up for grabs include those for District 1 (the area surrounding McClatchy High School); District 2 (an area that includes Rosemont High School); and District 6 (the area surrounding Kennedy High School).
Each district has about 22,000 voters and about 14,000 households, small enough for candidates to engage directly with voters at their doors.
Yet in two of the three districts – those represented by Ellyne Bell in District 1 and Roy Grimes in District 6 – no challengers have stepped forward to test the incumbents.
District 2 provides a contrast.
Incumbent Jerry Houseman has declined to run for re-election. So far, two strong candidates have stepped forward.
Jeffrey Cuneo, an attorney specializing in juvenile justice, has served on the Children’s Coalition, an advisory body to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors. He faces Mary Hernandez, a lobbyist for SEIU Local 1000, California’s largest state employees union. She has served in state government at the Department of Industrial Relations and the California Workforce Investment Board.
This promises to be a lively race.
There’s still time for other candidates to jump in. Although the formal filing deadline is in July, now is the time to launch a campaign organization, raise funds and engage voters in public education issues, one door at a time.