Currently two insiders are in contest, Héctor Camacho, executive director of Equity, Social Justice and Inclusion of the San Mateo County Office of Education, and Chelsea Bonini, trustee on the San Mateo County Board of Education.
As superintendent of schools, the elected person would lead an organization responsible for overseeing some of the most vulnerable students in the county, including its youngest and most at-risk.
Prior to his role in the Office of Education, Camacho served on its board for 11 years; his goal hasn’t always been to be county superintendent, but the moment is calling him, he said.
“Public education is under attack, right now is a time for every educator to step up,” Camacho said. “We’ve got a lot of people out there asking for a real leader to step into this role, and sometimes you have to answer that call.”
Bonini has represented Area 4, which largely covers San Mateo, on the county’s Board of Education since unseating an incumbent in 2020 and winning reelection in 2024. Previously, Bonini was on the Office of Education’s Personnel Commission and a trustee for the San Mateo-Foster City School District from 2008 to 2017.
“Strong schools are the foundation of thriving communities,” Bonini wrote in a press release. “I am committed to ensuring that every student in San Mateo County has access to inclusive and high-quality educational opportunities.”
If elected, Bonini said she would prioritize key initiatives to promote literacy and expand mental health resources, according to a press release. Bonini will also continue efforts toward securing increased funding for the county’s school districts with the goal of closing the $20,000-per-student funding gap.
In his current role, Camacho works closely with the superintendent to progress the Office of Education’s “vision of excellence and equity in education for every student, every educator, every school.”
“Part of my work is to help put that into action with an equity, social justice and inclusion lens,” Camacho said.
Magee has endorsed Camacho’s campaign to be her successor.
When Magee announced she would not run for reelection, she said she will focus on accomplishing the County Office of Education’s strategic goals for the remainder of her term that ends Jan. 1, 2027.
Magee led the Office of Education through the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting the transition to distance learning and back to in-person learning as safe conditions allowed, according to a press release.
(2) comments
San Mateo School districts are extremely rich, that is why property-tax that is supposed to go to Education is already going back to cities and the county (look up the San Mateo ERAF scandal).
The SMCOE knows exactly that more bonds lead to more interest rates which leads to less money for teachers and education
So in that spirit, let's never forget that Nancy Magee just stood by ....
- ...when basically ALL San Mateo School district are spending smaller and smaller percentages of their budget on classroom teachers (what was 50% and more just some 20 years ago is down to 30% and less)
- ... when basically most San Mateo School districts are spending more and more on interest payments for infrastructure bonds they never needed.
- ...when the Community College is still wading deep into corruption territory and another bond measure for another unnecessary "wellness center" (with no educational value) is on its way.
- ...when two major school districts (SMFCSD and RCSD) are committing illegal school segregation (through Magnet Schools) to get more funding for their "failing schools". Basically they created those "failing schools" so they get more funding.
- Nancy Magee personally has constantly exempt John Baker and the Redwood City School district from the illegal practice of spending more on administrators and on teachers. (code 41372)
- She has been supporting basically all bond measures (good and bad) despite the fact that San Mateo school districts are all super-rich and it's the interest rates that are eating into the education budgets.
Instead she did that expensive lawsuit against Social Media companies which should come from the DA or Attorney General instead of local education budgets. That was all about virtue signaling and misdirection of course.
The SMCOE under Nance Magee has clearly failed the kids and the community in this regard and another "Insider" will not fix those problems.
It may be time to ask what the purpose of that organization is. Do we really need them? Certainly, based on the poor test scores of our students they don't seem to contribute much other than to their own personal bank accounts. Or can they subsume the roles of the massive administrative staff now occupying fancy offices at the various school districts? Just asking.
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