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By Venise Wagner
Of the Free Press staff
SAN FRANCISCO -- In a surprise win, progressive Keith Jackson, a native of the North Beach Housing project, is the new face on the San Francisco School Board.
Jackson, 30, president of the Raphael Weill PTA, will fill the seat left vacant by Tom Ammiano, another progressive who ran successfully for the Board of Supervisors.
Incumbents Carlota Del Portillo, dean of the Mission Campus of San Francisco City College, and Dan Kelly, a pediatrician, won second terms. Late returns today showed Kelly leading, followed by Del Portillo and Jackson.
Campaign financing and the endorsements of teachers, once a measuring stick for projecting election winners, did not play a part in Jackson's victory. Of the five front runners for the board, Jackson had the smallest campaign fund -- $2,885. And while he carried the support of Local 790, the union for classified employees, he lost the endorsement of the United Educators of San Francisco, the teacher's union.
His election to the board -- a body that has stood behind the major reform efforts of Superintendent Bill Rojas -- is not expected to alter significantly the board's voting record.
"Anyone who gets on the board is replacing Tom Ammiano, who played a unifying role," said Kelly before the polls closed last night. "No one will create a four-member majority. The board will still be fluid and flexible."
Jackson, criticized by some for his limited experience working in the system, has a progressive agenda that focuses on improving academic achievement among African American and Latino students, groups who traditionally score the lowest in the district. With his background, Jackson is expected to bring to the board insight into the difficulties disenfranchised youth face in city schools.
Anthony Chow and Mauricio Vela, two serious contenders for the one vacant seat, had more money and strong endorsements. Both candidates ran on a platform of developing neighborhood schools.
Chow, in addition, wanted to curtail busing, which is mandated by federal courts in the district's desegregation plan. Chow is vice president of the Chinese American Democratic Club, which supported the recent class action suit challenging racial caps in public schools, and believes the current integration plan should be revised.
Chow raised about $30,000 in campaign funds -- approximately $12,000 of which came from his own pocket -- and had the blessing of the teacher's union.
Vela, director of the Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center, was endorsed by the unions of both the classified and teaching staff. He raised about $28,000 in campaign funds.
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