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Alida Fisher
Alida Fisher is a member of the San Francisco Unified Board of Education in California. She assumed office on January 8, 2023. Her current term ends on January 8, 2027.
Fisher ran for election to the San Francisco Unified Board of Education in California. She won in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Elections
2022
See also: San Francisco Unified School District, California, elections (2022)
General election
General election for San Francisco Unified Board of Education (3 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for San Francisco Unified Board of Education on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Lisa Weissman-Ward (Nonpartisan) | 21.9 | 149,996 | |
| ✔ | Lainie Motamedi (Nonpartisan) | 19.3 | 132,088 | |
| ✔ |  | Alida Fisher (Nonpartisan) | 17.7 | 121,292 |
| Ann Hsu (Nonpartisan) | 17.1 | 117,152 | ||
 | Gabriela Lopez (Nonpartisan) | 13.1 | 89,385 | |
 | Karen Fleshman (Nonpartisan)  | 10.8 | 73,744 | |
| Total votes: 683,657 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Phil Kim (Nonpartisan)
2020
See also: San Francisco Unified School District, California, elections (2020)
General election
General election for San Francisco Unified Board of Education (4 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for San Francisco Unified Board of Education on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Jenny Lam (Nonpartisan) | 17.0 | 195,270 | |
| ✔ |  | Mark Sanchez (Nonpartisan) | 17.0 | 194,810 |
| ✔ | Kevine Boggess (Nonpartisan) | 15.3 | 175,302 | |
| ✔ |  | Matt Alexander (Nonpartisan) | 13.0 | 149,212 |
| Alida Fisher (Nonpartisan) | 12.5 | 143,685 | |
| Michelle Parker (Nonpartisan) | 10.3 | 117,434 | ||
| Nick Rothman (Nonpartisan) | 5.0 | 56,993 | ||
| Genevieve Lawrence (Nonpartisan) | 5.0 | 56,878 | ||
| Andrew Alston (Nonpartisan) | 2.9 | 33,122 | ||
| Paul Kangas (Nonpartisan) | 2.0 | 22,720 | ||
| Total votes: 1,145,426 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2018
General election
General election for San Francisco Unified Board of Education (3 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for San Francisco Unified Board of Education on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Alison Collins (Nonpartisan) | 15.0 | 122,865 | |
| ✔ | | Gabriela Lopez (Nonpartisan) | 13.7 | 112,299 |
| ✔ |  | Faauuga Moliga (Nonpartisan) | 13.2 | 107,989 |
 | Phil Kim (Nonpartisan) | 9.3 | 76,017 | |
| Michelle Parker (Nonpartisan) | 8.0 | 65,740 | ||
| Li Miao Lovett (Nonpartisan) | 7.5 | 61,412 | ||
| John Trasvina (Nonpartisan) | 5.7 | 46,601 | ||
| Alida Fisher (Nonpartisan) | 4.6 | 37,735 | |
| Monica Chinchilla (Nonpartisan) | 4.2 | 34,193 | ||
| Lenette Thompson (Nonpartisan) | 3.7 | 30,496 | ||
| Josephine Zhao (Nonpartisan) | 3.4 | 27,761 | ||
| Mia Satya (Nonpartisan) | 2.1 | 17,540 | ||
| Paul Kangas (Nonpartisan) | 1.7 | 13,967 | ||
| Darron Padilla (Nonpartisan) | 1.6 | 12,950 | ||
 | Martin Rawlings-Fein (Nonpartisan) | 1.5 | 12,439 | |
| Connor Krone (Nonpartisan) | 1.5 | 12,251 | ||
 | Roger Sinasohn (Nonpartisan) | 1.5 | 12,018 | |
 | Lex Leifheit (Nonpartisan) | 1.2 | 9,605 | |
| Phillip House (Nonpartisan) | 0.3 | 2,491 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 1,551 | ||
| Total votes: 817,920 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Alida Fisher did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2020
Alida Fisher did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
2018
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Alida Fisher completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Fisher's responses.
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
My priorities: 1. Make every student feel welcome, included and valued at their school. After all, if a student doesn't feel safe and supported, they are not open to learning. School personnel must implement restorative practices. SFUSD staff must be culturally competent and celebrate our diversity. We need to do a better job of preparing SFUSD staff to support our diverse learners. All school personnel should be trained in universal design for learning and positive behavior interventions to fully support and engage our students and their very diverse needs. 2. Provide supports and interventions in every school so that all students are proficient readers by third grade. There are very few skills more important than reading. Educators should be trained to recognize the signs of learning differences such as dyslexia, and implement interventions. 3. Be fully transparent and accountable in our budget and decision making processes at every level of the district. Offer robust opportunities for stakeholder engagement, including families. As Joe Biden said, "don't tell me your priorities. Show me your budget and I'll tell you your priorities."
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?
As a former foster parent and adoptive parent of African American children, two of whom have disabilities, I am particularly passionate about the issues of equity and social justice. We need to start having some very real conversations about perceptions, stereotypes, and racal bias. As an advocate for children with special needs, I often run into the mentality of "encroachment." Some families fear that funding initiatives to support children with disabilities, English learners, or students of color will negatively impact other children by taking away resources from their child(ren)'s learning environment. I have found the opposite to be true. Education isn't a zero sum prospect. As John F. Kennedy said, "a rising tide lifts all boats." Training an educator to differentiate instruction for a struggling second grader also helps that teacher understand how to support the child in the who is reading at a fifth grade level. Providing an educator with positive behavior intervention strategies helps that teacher manage his or her entire classroom, not just the students identified with challenges. This allows more time to be spent on instruction for all students. We need more support for our teachers, including additional paraeducators, teacher mentors, and robust professional development opportunities. Research shows that diversity helps us become more thoughtful and innovative. It helps us become better problem solvers. And for those of us raising kids in San Francisco, it helps prepare our kids for the reality of our city.
What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?
I am a collaborative leader with a track record of bringing diverse groups of people together. In the 2017-2018 school year, I worked with the Office of Family Engagement and leadership teams from multiple district advisory committees to plan the Family Leadership Alignment Summit. The summit was so well received amongst parent leaders that we are expanding our work with a second summit in November. As the Chair of the CAC, I have increased our advocacy efforts at the district and state level. I have coordinated campaigns and visits to Sacramento to meet with legislators and budget office staff in order to increase education funding. The President of the Special Education Administrators of County Offices credits CAC advocacy during the 2017 budget cycle for allocation of an additional $100 million towards special education teacher recruitment and retention. I will continue to work collaboratively with all stakeholders to implement solutions and policies that benefit all students.
What is your favorite holiday? Why?
Thanksgiving. It brings family and friends together in community.
What is your favorite thing in your home or apartment? Why?
My family. They are the reason I do everything I do.
What was the last song that got stuck in your head?
Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus.... and thanks a lot, now it's stuck again.
Who are your constituents?
The students of SFUSD and their families.
What issues get in the way of quality education? How would you address these obstacles?
In SFUSD, our opportunity gap is huge. While San Francisco has the second highest concentration of billionaires in the United States, we also have the highest percentage of homeless youth and young adults. At many schools within SFUSD, the performance gap in SBAC proficiency levels between White and African American students is more than 50%. In previous years, SFUSD has been sanctioned by the California Department of Education for over-identification of African American males into classrooms for "emotionally disturbed" students. While these statistics are heartbreaking, I am encouraged to see that SFUSD leadership recognizes our challenges and is working to improve outcomes. We are seeing improvements. The Superintendent has identified "PITCH schools" - schools that have been historically underserved or have a high achievement gap - to receive additional resources this year. The African American Achievement and Leadership Initiative (AAALI) was created in 2013 "to hold SFUSD departments and City agencies accountable for providing a high quality educational experience to African American students." Pupil Services offers training and support to SFUSD employees, particularly teachers and paraeducators. Â SFUSD is implementing the Community Schools model to support many schools. A "community school" is a school where educators, administrators, families, and community partners work collaboratively to identify the largest challenges facing a school's student population. Wraparound supports are brought in from the community, and parents are treated as partners is supporting the needs of each child. The Department of Children, Youth, and their Families (DCYF) has provided the district with increased funding in 2018-2019 for Community School model will allow the target schools to include many more supports for families and students. Â While there is much work being done to support our students, the reality at our schools is that they are understaffed. When a school has to choose between a nurse and a social worker, that's a problem. Is all of this enough? It won't be enough until we see equitable outcomes amongst all races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic statuses within SFUSD.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
