School Boards Matter: 2026 Candidate Guide

Christine Baker

What do you see as the greatest challenges facing public school districts over the next several years?

I believe the major challenges facing our district are maintaining high educational standards, navigating budget challenges and declining enrollment, ensuring the safety of all students and the responsible use of technology. While each of these challenges requires different solutions, I believe communication, transparency, and accountability are essential to addressing all three. We need to listen to the people closest to these issues, be transparent about the challenges we face and the decisions being made, and remain accountable for the results.

How should school boards respond to increasing political polarization, censorship\ efforts, attacks on policies/programs aimed at supporting marginalized students, and declining trust in public education?

School boards have a responsibility to keep the focus on students rather than allowing political divisions to drive educational decisions. That means listening to parents, teachers, staff, students, and the community while evaluating concerns based on facts, educational standards, and what best supports student learning.

I believe every student deserves to feel safe, respected, and supported in our schools. Policies and programs should be evaluated based on their effectiveness and outcomes, not simply because they have become politically controversial. Teachers should also be able to teach approved curriculum without fear of political retaliation, while families deserve transparency about what is being taught and why.

Rebuilding trust requires communication, accountability, and a willingness to listen, even when we disagree. A school board’s role should not be to decide which political side wins. It should be to ask difficult questions, consider different perspectives, look at the facts, and make responsible decisions that serve all students

How would you work to ensure that all students, including students from historically marginalized communities, feel safe, supported, respected, and able to fully participate in school? What role should school boards play in creating inclusive school cultures?

Every student deserves to feel safe, valued, respected, and supported at school, including students who have historically faced discrimination, exclusion, or barriers to educational opportunities.

I believe the board should listen to students, families, teachers, and staff to understand where those barriers exist. We should use data to identify disparities and determine whether our policies and programs are effectively serving all students.Creating an inclusive school culture does not mean everyone must share the same beliefs or perspectives. It means treating people with dignity, ensuring policies are applied fairly, and making sure every student has meaningful opportunities to participate and succeed. The board should set clear expectations for safety and respect, provide appropriate resources, encourage open communication, and hold the district accountable for results. Ultimately, our responsibility is to ensure every student has the support and opportunity they need to succeed.

Educator burnout, staffing shortages, and retention challenges continue to affect schools across California. What do you believe districts should do to better support and retain teachers, counselors, classified staff, and other school employees?

Our teachers, counselors, classified staff, and other school employees are essential to student success, and retaining experienced, dedicated employees should be a district priority. We need to listen directly to employees about the challenges they face and address the factors contributing to burnout. Competitive compensation and benefits matter, but so do manageable workloads, adequate staffing, safe and supportive working environments, strong leadership, and access to the resources needed to serve students effectively.

We should use retention, vacancy, workload, and employee feedback data to understand why people are leaving and identify practical solutions. Employees should also be included in decisions that directly affect their work.

At the same time, the board has a responsibility to maintain fiscal stability. We may not always be able to provide everything requested, but employees should know their concerns are heard, their work is valued, and decisions are made thoughtfully, transparently, and with respect.

Student achievement data often reflects persistent disparities based on race, income, disability, language access, housing instability, and other factors. What strategies or priorities would you support to improve student outcomes while also addressing underlying inequities?

Improving student achievement starts with understanding why disparities exist rather than assuming one solution will work for every student. We should use data to identify achievement gaps and determine where students are struggling, while also listening to students, families, teachers, and staff about the barriers they are experiencing.

I would support targeted resources and interventions based on student needs, including academic support, language access, special education services, counseling, attendance support, and assistance for students experiencing housing or other instability. At the same time, we should maintain high academic expectations for every student and ensure all students have access to meaningful educational opportunities.

Programs intended to address inequities should also be evaluated regularly. We need to know whether they are actually improving student outcomes and adjust when they are not.The board’s responsibility is to use resources wisely, remove unnecessary barriers to learning, and ensure that a student’s background or circumstances do not determine their opportunity to succeed.

Schools are increasingly navigating questions related to technology, artificial intelligence, social media, student privacy, and digital safety. What principles should guide district decisions around technology use while ensuring students are both prepared for the future and protected from harm?

Technology is an unavoidable part of modern life, and preparing students for the future means teaching them not only how to use technology, but how to use it safely and responsibly. As a parent of a young child in school, I appreciate a more restricted approach to devices when they interfere with learning or healthy social interaction. At the same time, technology and AI can be incredibly valuable educational tools when used appropriately. I would like to see digital safety become a greater part of student education as technology continues to evolve. Age-appropriate instruction could address online privacy, social media safety, misinformation, responsible AI use, protecting personal information, and understanding the long-term consequences of digital choices.

District policies should balance innovation with student safety, privacy, educational value, and transparency with families. Ultimately, the goal of education is to teach students how to think. We should prepare students to navigate an increasingly technological world without allowing technology to replace critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, or meaningful human interaction.

How should school districts ensure that all students, regardless of background, identity, ability, or zip code, have equitable access to high-quality academic programs, mental health supports, extracurricular opportunities, and pathways to college and careers?

I believe every student deserves the opportunity to discover what they are capable of and to have multiple pathways toward a successful future. Not every student has the same needs, interests, or circumstances, so our schools should provide opportunities that reflect those differences.

That means ensuring students can access strong academic programs, mental health and counseling support, extracurricular activities, and meaningful college and career pathways, including career and technical education.

We should use data and feedback from students, families, teachers, and staff to identify where barriers exist. We should be asking: Are these opportunities actually reaching all students? And if some students aren't able to access them, why not? Understanding those barriers allows us to develop practical solutions rather than simply assuming that offering a program means everyone has equal access to it.A student's background, disability, family income, or zip code should not determine the quality of education or opportunities available to them. The board's responsibility is to use resources responsibly while ensuring every student has a meaningful opportunity to succeed.

School board members must balance their duty to act in the best interest of students and the families they represent with the practical realities of overseeing a district's operations and finances. How do you plan to communicate with your constituents to understand their needs and priorities? What steps will you take to follow through and verify that what the district reports is actually being implemented as promised?

I believe one of the most important responsibilities of a school board member is to listen and remain connected to the people we represent. I plan to communicate with parents, students, teachers, staff, and community members through email, school and community events, meetings, and direct conversations. I also want to actively seek input rather than waiting for concerns to come to the board.

Listening is only the first step. When concerns are raised, I want to follow up and ask: Was the problem addressed? What changed? And is it actually working? If the board approves a program, policy, or expenditure, I would compare what was promised with what was actually implemented. That means reviewing reports and data, asking follow-up questions, tracking measurable outcomes, and hearing directly from the students, families, and employees affected.

Accountability requires more than accepting a report that something was completed. It means verifying implementation, evaluating results, and continuing to ask questions when the information does not match what people are experiencing.