Rob Geller
Rob Geller was a candidate for an at-large seat on the San Francisco Unified School District school board in California. Geller was defeated in the at-large general election on November 8, 2016.
Geller participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 school board candidate survey. Click here to read his responses.
Elections
2016
Four of the seven seats on the San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education were up for at-large general election on November 8, 2016. In their bids for re-election, incumbents Matthew Haney, Rachel Norton, and Jill Wynns ran against challengers Stevon Cook, Rob Geller, Ian Kalin, Phillip Kim, Trevor McNeil, and Mark Sanchez.[1] Haney and Norton won re-election, and Sanchez and Cook won the other two seats on the ballot.[2]
Results
| San Francisco Unified School District, At-large General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Matthew Haney Incumbent |
18.89% | 175,803 |
| Mark Sanchez |
16.73% | 155,706 |
| Stevon Cook |
16.37% | 152,335 |
| Rachel Norton Incumbent |
13.86% | 129,012 |
| Jill Wynns Incumbent | 10.16% | 94,571 |
| Trevor McNeil | 9.27% | 86,233 |
| Phillip Kim | 6.99% | 65,045 |
| Ian Kalin | 4.81% | 44,788 |
| Rob Geller | 2.75% | 25,617 |
| Write-in votes | 0.16% | 1,482 |
| Total Votes | 930,592 | |
| Source: San Francisco Department of Elections, "November 8, 2016 Official Election Results," accessed December 7, 2016 | ||
Finanzierung
Geller reported $3,726.00 in contributions and $2,527.16 in expenditures to the San Francisco Ethics Commission, which left his campaign with $1,198.84 on hand as of October 22, 2016.[3]
Endorsements
Geller was endorsed by the community organization Evolve.[4]
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Rob Geller participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on October 5, 2016:
| " | [5][6] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in California. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| " | Most all of these are important--it is hard to rank them in this way, but number one for me is maintaining or increasing the district's budget![6] | ” |
| —Rob Geller (October 5, 2016) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer nine questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
| Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.) |
|---|
| No. It would probably not be a good idea for our district at this time, given our financial picture, which is not to say we should never approve another charter. |
| Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| The state should defer to school board decisions in most cases. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. They do not supply the whole picture. Test scores can be capricious. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| I would like to see the evidence that these standards are improving student outcomes. Until I see the evidence the jury is still out for me. |
| How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district? |
| Offer additional training options. Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. Underperforming teachers should be given more professional development and training opportunities. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Sparingly, only when a child is truly incapable of coexisting in the classroom with his/her peers. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers Quality, caring teachers, committed to the success of their students, are the lifeblood of a school. |
About the district
The San Francisco Unified School District is located in San Francisco County in west-central California. The county seat is San Francisco. San Francisco County was home to 864,816 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[7] The district was the sixth-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 57,620 students.[8]
Demographics
San Francisco County outperformed California as a whole in terms of higher education achievement from 2010 to 2014. The United States Census Bureau found that 52.9 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 31 percent of state residents. The median household income for San Francisco County was $78,378, compared to $61,489 for the entire state. The percentage of people in poverty in the county was 12.1 percent, compared to 16.4 percent statewide.[7]
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Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Rob Geller San Francisco Unified School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- San Francisco Unified School District, California
- San Francisco Unified School District elections (2016)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ City and County of San Francisco Department of Elections, "November 8, 2016 Election Information for Campaigns and Candidates," accessed August 22, 2016
- ↑ San Francisco Department of Elections, "November 8, 2016 Unofficial Election Results," accessed November 9, 2016
- ↑ San Francisco Ethics Commission, "City and County of San Francisco Public Portal for Campaign Finance, Lobbyist and Campaign Consultant Disclosure," accessed November 4, 2016
- ↑ Evolve, "Endorsements: November 8, 2016 General Election," accessed October 13, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Rob Geller's responses," October 5, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 United States Census Bureau, "San Francisco County, California," accessed August 9, 2016
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ City and County of San Francisco Department of Elections, "Election Archives by Year," accessed August 4, 2014
| 2016 San Francisco Unified School District Elections | |
| San Francisco County, California | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Matthew Haney • Incumbent, Rachel Norton • Incumbent, Jill Wynns • Stevon Cook • Rob Geller • Ian Kalin • Phillip Kim • Trevor McNeil • Mark Sanchez |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
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