Latest News and Comment from Education

Monday, November 1, 2010

Write-In Incumbent Changes Dynamics of SD School Board Election - San Diego 6

Write-In Incumbent Changes Dynamics of SD School Board Election - San Diego 6

Write-In Incumbent Changes Dynamics of SD School Board Election


Last Update: 6:49 am
Katherine Nakamura (SDUSD)
Katherine Nakamura (SDUSD)
SAN DIEGO - It is not just math teacher Kevin Beiser facing businessman Steve Rosen in one of two races for the San Diego Unified School District Board of Education -- incumbent Katherine Nakamura is back into the mix, too.

In one of the more interesting twists of the election season, a judge ruled that Nakamura is eligible to try to reclaim her seat as a write-in candidate after coming in third in the June primary.

The winner of this race, and another between five-term incumbent John De Beck and Scott Barnett, will take seats on a board grappling with a fifth straight year of spending reductions. The budget shortfall in the 2011-12 fiscal year, for which planning already is underway, is estimated to be $141 million.

School officials hope to shrink the gap with a $50 million infusion of cash from Proposition J, which if passed would impose a parcel tax on all property within the boundaries of the district.

Nakamura said after her primary bid fell short that a lot of parents told