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Three members of the Alameda County Board of Education face ill-prepared challengers in the March 5 election.
None of those challengers merits serious consideration. A couple don’t even understand what the job entails. Instead, voters should reelect Angela Normand, Janevette Cole and Eileen McDonald.
Normand represents Area 2, which includes Alameda, part of Oakland and a small part of San Leandro. Cole represents Area 5, which includes Hayward, Union City and northwest Fremont. McDonald represents Area 6, which includes Newark and most of Fremont.
In Area 3, which includes Piedmont and much of Oakland, Ken Berrick is unopposed. After he filed for reelection to the county Board of Education, Keith Carson announced that he would not seek another term on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. So Berrick is also one of nine candidates running to succeed Carson.
The seven-member county Board of Education is unlike a typical school board. It has very specific responsibilities and limitations on its authority.
It sets policy and approves the budget for the county Office of Education, which provides schooling for teen mothers and students in the juvenile justice system, teacher training programs, and curriculum development and technology assistance for districts.
The board hears appeals of student expulsions from local school districts and interdistrict transfers. And, in most cases, county boards of education in California are the only appellate venue left for charter schools that may have been unjustifiably blocked by local school boards.
The incumbents running don’t always agree on issues confronting the board. But they each come with solid education background and a clear understanding of the job for which they were elected. The same cannot be said of their opponents.
Area 2 – Normand
Normand, who has served since 2020, is a special education teacher on leave to serve on the California Teachers Association’s board representing Contra Costa and most of Alameda County. While CTA has worked tirelessly to restrict charter schools, Normand, in our interview, expressed appreciation for some of those that the county Board of Education has approved.
Her opponent, John Lewis, a construction manager, could provide no meaningful reason for why he is running. He has never dealt with, or been to a meeting of, the county Board of Education, and did not know what the board does.
Area 5 – Cole
Cole, who was elected in 2020, works for Hayward Promise, a primarily federally funded program aimed at halting generational poverty by providing resources to ensure students go on to college or careers. Cole, who holds a master’s degree in public administration and policy, serves as the program’s liaison with parents, teachers and government officials.
Before she was elected to the county board, she was one of the founding board members of Hayward Collegiate Charter School. While supportive of charter schools, she has stressed that they must be as accountable, diverse and equitable as traditional schools.
Her leading opponent, Guadalupe Angulo, has no education or management credentials and is a steadfast opponent of new charter schools or expansion of existing ones. Charter schools that provide meaningful alternatives in failing districts should not expect a fair hearing if Angulo is elected.
The other candidate in the race is Joe Ramos, a Hayward school board member who did not participate in our interview process. He recently made offensive and disparaging remarks to a senior administrator in his district. “Some of the parents here should take a rope and string you up,” Ramos said. That’s unacceptable language from anyone — and certainly beyond the pale for an elected official.
Area 6 – McDonald
After 20 years on the county Board of Education and 13 years prior on the Newark school district board, McDonald clearly understands her job and has provided a balanced perspective on charter school issues.
Her opponent, John Guerrero, a retired telecommunications manager who is also running for a seat on the Alameda County Republican Central Committee, did not understand the job he was running for. Or, as he put it when he was unable to answer basic questions, “I’m not entirely up on the actual technicalities of it.”