Katherine Nakamura has often championed the kind of motherhood-and-apple-pie stuff that causes little ruckus on the school board: She worked on a more readable budget that parents could understand.
She campaigned hard for money to renovate and repair schools. She backs successful charter schools. She even championed the marching band and pushed to keep giving students gym credit for the class.
"Polarization makes me crazy," she said. "My goal is to bring the entire community together."
But Nakamura hasn't been able to avoid it. She has sided with some of the most controversial school chiefs in recent history. She has become a dissenting voice on the school board on labor and budget issues, which has already split some Democrats away from the Democratic candidate.
And the budget cuts have been merciless for incumbents -- period. That could make her vulnerable, critics and backers alike say, as she runs for her third term on the San Diego Unified board, a normally safe spot.
Sitting school board members are usually difficult to unseat, largely because people pay little