Thea Selby
- Office: Board of Trustees
- Election Date: November 8, 2022
- Candidate: Thea Selby
- Due Date: Monday, August 29, 2022
- Printable Version
Thank you for seeking GrowSF's endorsement for the November 8, 2022 general election! GrowSF believes in a growing, beautiful, vibrant, healthy, safe, and prosperous city via common sense solutions and effective government.
The GrowSF endorsement committee will review all completed questionnaires and seek consensus on which candidates best align with our vision for San Francisco and have the expertise to enact meaningful policy changes.
We ask that you please complete this questionnaire by Monday, August 29, 2022 so we have enough time to adequately review and discuss your answers.
Table of Contents
Vision
GrowSF believes in a growing, beautiful, vibrant, healthy, safe, and prosperous San Francisco. And we believe that great public schools are necessary for a great and prosperous society.
This section of our questionnaire seeks to help us gain an understanding of your alignment with our vision for San Francisco.
Short-form questions
Please mark the box that best aligns with your position. You may explain any position if you so desire, but this section is designed to be a quick overview of your view of the city's problems and what solutions you might propose.
Education
| In general, is it too hard, just right, or too easy to… | Too hard | Just right | Too easy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enroll in City College–updating our registration system | x | ||
| Hire good teachers–we have a dearth of diverse teachers | x | ||
| Fire bad teachers | x |
If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:
To elaborate a bit on the "fire bad teachers," there are some teachers at CCSF who are in their late 70s and early 80's. I know from talking to students that they are not very good. They may have been very good, but they are eligible for retirement, and in my opinion, should consider doing so to give younger and new instructors a chance to teach our students. This is not my call at all, but I promise you that if I am working in my 80's, it's not because I have a good pension waiting for me, as these folks have.
Budget
| In general, is City College budgeting too much, just enough, or too little on… | Too much | Just Enough | Enough, but barely | Too little |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Facilities | x | |||
| Extracurricular activities | x | |||
| Teacher salaries | x | |||
| Administrative salaries | x | |||
| Support for students like tutoring, scholarships, career counseling, etc | x | |||
| Classes which count toward degrees | x | |||
| Classes or programs which don't count toward degrees | x |
If you want to explain any positions above, please feel free:
In a nutshell: up until this year, City College has had a structural deficit, meaning each year we have to struggle to make our revenue and expenditures balance while maintaining the reserves required.
This year, the board and Chancellor made decisions that eliminated the structural balance and gave us a growing reserve (savings). Reserves are critical for growing/fixing/being prepared for anything. We could absolutely have more counselors, more classes with degrees and those without, but it will take time as we build back up our enrollment, being ever-mindful of the need to have the right balance of faculty, staff and administrators to students. We lost 30% of our students during Covid. We had to cut all three employee groups to match up where we are now with our expenses. As we grow back our enrollment, we will have more money to add back classes, programs, and to raise salaries.
Why too much in Admin Salaries? I'm kind of appalled at how much the Chancellor is paid. Maybe that's because we've had a lot of bad Chancellors that have been paid over $350K, which seems like a lot for me.
Why is City College facing a budget crisis? Please provide a short answer here, and a longer answer in the "Long-form questions" section.
We had a structural imbalance, and an ethos that we could not cut full-time faculty to balance the college. Then we cut faculty (and classified and administrators) and we no longer have that structural imbalance, even at the very low enrollment we have now. Short answer: we are not facing a budget crisis anymore. If we don't get enrollment back up, we will be facing one in a few years when hold harmless (additional funding during Covid that assumed the same amount of enrollment as pre-Covid) goes away.
Instruction
Tell us about the quality of education available at City College, and what should be done to improve it, if needed.
The Community College system is one that attracts teachers who want to teach, not who want to do research. That means that I can definitively say we have some of the best teachers in the CA higher education system.
What needs to improve: the diversity among faculty. Because of our process of hiring (part-timers are encouraged by their friends to come to CCSF and they have a better chance of being offered a full-time job) our faculty is not diverse, even though the vast majority (80%) of our students are. We are working on attracting a more diverse and still excellent faculty for new positions by offering affordable housing if they come from outside of SF–most instructors can't afford to teach here b/c they can't afford to live here.
Tell us one thing you think needs to change about City College that the average voter wouldn't know about.
We need a transit pass for our students–we are the only higher education system in San Francisco that does not offer a discounted transit pass. I'm working on that. :)
Long-form questions
General
In what ways is City College succeeding?
We have successfully implemented AB705, which took away "basic skills," a place where students used to be parked for years before actually being able to take college-level classes. As a result, we have more than doubled the % of black and brown students that take English 1A and the required Math class, and we've doubled the number who pass it and move on. THis is a HUGE step in the right direction towards reducing the opportunity gap.
We are building a Performing Arts and Education Center and three other badly needed buildings. I am working with the Building Trades and the Chancellor to add an amendment to our PLA that requires the trades to work with our students (and pay them!) on the buildings so they can get hands-on experience (and start on the path towards union jobs!) with the $845M bond for facilities.
We went from 30% of our classes being in person last semester to almost 65% in-person this semester. We are getting our students back in class, which should increase our enrollment over time with a robust recruitment plan.
In what ways is City College failing?
Our registration system still is more likely to turn students away than invite them in. We are spending money this Fall to fix that.
We are WAY down in enrollment. 30% since the start of Covid. We are striving to get them back using ways we have not before including texting and email campaigns. But, many esp. Latinx students are not coming back yet.
We do not have a robust recruitment plan in place because we do not have the funds to do so. I'm working on that (see Free City section).
Instruction and Curriculum
What can the Community College Board do to improve student performance at City College?
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Continue to support AB705 and AB1705 to continue to close the opportunity gap.
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Judiciously use our reserves to help students for example by hiring more English teachers when there is a need (we hired 3 more this semester).
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Say no when we don't "need" something. Fiscal prudence is absolutely key right now.
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Do a survey to the students to understand what their needs are right now. We do not need to "build it so they will come" but rather, find out what they want and build to the student needs.
Are students graduating with the skills necessary to obtain a good job? Why or why not?
This is a very interesting question that cannot always be answered as the community college system does not always get the data post-graduation that it needs.
My experience, from listening to students over the years, is it depends what program you are talking about. You always get jobs in things like medical assistant certificate, radio tech, nursing, firefighting, EMS, biotech, cybersecurity, and mostly (because it's cyclical) in our City Build program. Other programs still struggle to make the connection between certificates and jobs. I took a San Andreas Fault class (amazing, by the way) one summer and talked to several people who had gotten sustainable environment certificates that did not lead to jobs.
The way to improve the connection between certificates and degrees and jobs is by making better connections between those who provide the jobs, students, and our course and program work. With a consistent Chancellor (if you are able to endorse our slate of John, Brigitte, Thea and Murrell, the college will have a much higher chance of keeping this permanent Chancellor), this kind of work can be done. I have set up the Chancellor, for example, with SFMTA so they can begin to have discussions about what jobs they need most (believe it or not, operators was not the answer) and he is beginning to co-create those programs.
What is the City College curriculum lacking which the Community College Board could rectify?
First, to be clear, the Board does not have purview over curriculum, that is the Academic Senate and the deans and department heads. What we CAN do is everything in our power to keep a balanced budget and a growing college so that we can grow our classes and programs over the next 4 years. We can also use our bully pulpit to help recruit students. The more students we have, the more revenue we get from the state. As Chair of the Student Success and Policy Committee, I can also recommend to the Chancellor that as he works to modify Free City MOU with the city, he adds the capability of us using Free City funds for 1) eliminating Covid student debt so the students can come back and 2) recruiting students. Neither of those things are possible now with Free City and we are working with the Board of Supervisors to make those changes.
Budget
Why is City College facing a budget crisis? Please explain the nature of this budget crisis.
City College has had a budget crisis because we spent more money than we earned. We have fixed this with attrition, layoffs, and restructuring. For example, the Chancellor merged several small departments together and thereby reduced the number of department heads needed.
We have lost 30% of our students during Covid. While we brought back many of our classes in person this semester, the word is not out yet that we are not mostly online. Therefore, our enrollment did not go up this semester. Additionally, the economy is strong now. It takes a very forward-looking person to say, I'm going to eat into my work time, my family and friend time and my personal time by taking a class that might further my career when I am making decent wages–better than I ever made before.
What hard choices must City College make to fix its budget crisis?
We made hard choices this year, which is why we have a teachers union-backed slate running against us. What we did was unprecedented at City College–we laid off 29 full-time and mostly tenured faculty members. It was very painful, but we knew that it had to be done. We also knew that the unions would come out in force against us if we did it (this was while I was running for Assembly, btw), but we did it anyway.
I'm super proud of this board. I had been a strong voice of not continuing to "kick the (budget imbalance) can down the road." With the decisions the Chancellor made and that we supported, we are now growing our reserves.
What courses or programs should City College cut to improve its budget situation?
We should not have to cut courses or programs as we already did that. We MUST grow enrollment to avoid a future fiscal cliff in 24/25. I believe this board of incumbents will stick to basics and continue to make the hard (if not headline-making) decisions to keep us on the right track so we have a City College for the future.
What new revenue streams might City College tap into to address its budget crisis?
The local revenue stream is SF WERCs. If it passes (and it only needs 50+1%) and if it is not challenged, it will bring in around $45M to City College. The challenge there will be managing that additional revenue wisely. Again, this incumbent board is well aware (and not backed by the teachers union, who want to use it to hire back everybody) of the importance of fiscal prudence and good governance.
Policy
Now that we know where you align and differ from our vision for San Francisco, we'd like to get some details about how you intend to use your elected office to achieve your goals.
Why are you running for Community College Board?
Over the last seven years of being an elected City College Trustee, I have shepherded CCSF through the past accreditation, implemented FREE City College for all students and grew enrollment the first year by 25%, uncovered $2M to lower student debt so students can enroll, and negotiated $400,000 from private developer to support student-led low-cost transit campaign. I am running again to do my best to keep City College for current and future students. In the coming years I will:
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Work with her colleagues to deliver accreditation once again (2023)
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Support student-led Transit Team to secure transit passes
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Focus on keeping finances stable and growing enrollment
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Work to use unallocated FREE City funds to recruit students
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Form agreement with Building Trades for students to work on $845M worth of CCSF construction projects
What is your #1 policy goal?
Do everything in my power to get re-accredited so our students' courses count.
How will you build the coalition and political capital to enact your #1 goal?
It is less a matter of building a coalition and more a matter of staying the course. We (the incumbents) were there when we got City College accredited last time, under very difficult circumstances. There is one big risk to getting re-accredited, and that is if the board is taken over by one constituency, most likely the teachers' union and no longer represents ALL the constituents of the college, but primarily one. That is a huge risk to getting re-accredited.
Will the power of the office of Community College Board be enough to achieve this goal?
Yes, combined with the excellent work done by all the different departments involved in writing up our accreditation. It is a college-wide effort, but our part is ensuring that the school is fiscally sound and that the board is there for the students.
What are your #2 and #3 policy goals?
Increasing enrollment and keeping the college financially solvent.
Will the power of the office of Community College Board be enough to achieve these goals?
Nothing is accomplished solely by the power of the office of the community college board. But, we play a role in setting policy, in getting the basics right, in support the Chancellor so we don't continue to have a revolving door of Chancellors and administrators, in making hard decisions that are in the best interest of the college, not any one constituency. I plan to put my communications, marketing and outreach skills to work on enrollment, whether as a foot soldier helping flyer and distribute information or by being on a committee to get digital and print assistance or by changing policy to make Free City funds, currently vastly underused because we do not have enough students, available for recruiting students.
As a small business person with an MBA, I will continue to put my understanding of budgets and numbers together with the rest of my colleagues to make good financial decisions at the board level.
What is an existing policy you would like to reform?
Currently Chancellors across California are entitled to up to 18 months severance when they are let go. This leads to bad governance, as bad Chancellors are almost happy to be let go as they know they will get a hefty severance. The K-12 leaders can get up to 12 months. I would like to change Ed Code to take it down to 6 or 12 months for Chancellors as well, as I have seen what harm the revolving door of leadership does to a school.
What is an "out there" change that you would make to state/local government policy, if you could? (For example: changing how elections work, creating a Bay Area regional government, etc.)
Make all community colleges free again (they were originally in the Educational Master Plan.)
Get AB1919 to be signed by Gov. Newsom. It has passed the Senate and the Assembly and just needs to be signed and the money appropriated to get Free Transit for all students in CA. Feel free to ping Phil Ting or Gov Newsom and advocate on its behalf. Data show that graduation rates go up with free transit and one of the barriers to going back to school goes away.
Personal
Tell us a bit about yourself!
What is your professional background?
Small business owner for 20+ years in San Francisco. We work with media and government agencies on communications, marketing and outreach. Undergrad from UC Berkeley in Soviet Studies (language, literature, history), MBA in Marketing from Univ of Oregon.
Are you currently or formerly enrolled at City College, and/or do you have any children who are currently or formerly enrolled at City College?
I frequently enroll at City College. I have taken Chemistry (Science), American Sign Language (languages), San Andreas Fault (Geology), Swing Dance (PE), and Introduction to Masculinity (Women and Gender Studies). My older son was enrolled for a semester before entering UC Berkeley.
How long have you lived in San Francisco? What brought you here and what keeps you here?
I have lived in SF about 30 years. I came here after obtaining my MBA at University of Oregon b/c my husband is from the Bay Area and I graduated from UC Berkeley. We are city people, and lived in Prague for 2.3 years when we were not in San Francisco.
Wow. What keeps me here. Good question. My second child is finishing up UC San Diego, so we will soon be empty nesters. I think what keeps me here is the beauty of the place, and the hope that my work in this city can make things better.
What do you love most about California and/or San Francisco?
I love my neighborhood (Lower Haight–I founded the Lower Haight Merchant + Neighbor Assn with Vallie Brown and Elizabeth Everhard), I love our public transportation system, I love our hills, our vistas, and the strangers I have conversations with all over town.
I love the passion of CCSF students, with whom I work to get a Free Rams Transit Pass. They are the most disadvantaged students in SF, and they know how to fight. I love our teachers, who are equally passionate about their subject matter and about teaching.
I love our K-12 system, which educated my 2 kids much better than I was educated at my public school K-12. It has a lot of problems, but again, comparing it to my own experience (I was educated in Boston, Austin, Philly, Bala Cynwyd and then Austin again), it was much more consistently good.
What do you dislike the most about California and/or San Francisco?
I think San Francisco is pretty provincial. We think we can solve problems using methods that haven't worked with other people. We think it's OK to have drugs on the streets, unsafe transit, and homeless in tents. Our "progressivism" has led to bad outcomes for housing growth (my kids can't live here–no housing), for solving homelessness, for getting the fentanyl under some sort of control, for keeping people feeling safe on our streets. I was a strong proponent of getting kids back in the classroom as I saw how it was working not only in our own private schools but also all over the world. We did not look at that data, we kept kids out of school for far too long, and that is why I was a strong proponent of the
school board recall. I am super proud of the City College Board, which kept its head down during Covid, tried to work out a back to school plan while keeping students safe, and stick to basics of good governance.
I think California has not done enough with its supermajority of Democrats to make a better CA, especially around housing. We can do better!
Tell us about your current involvement in the community (e.g., volunteer groups, neighborhood associations, civic and professional organizations, etc.)
I am a board member of the Lower Haight Merchant + Neighbor Association. I am Co-Chair of the San Francisco Transit Riders, the largest rider org for the largest transit system in the Bay ARea
I am a co-founder of Voices for Public Transportation, a coalition of 100,000 members made up of unions, equity groups and transit groups fighting for affordable, accessible and abundant transportation in the Bay Area.
I am a longtime member and former board member of SF Women's Political Committee I volunteer for clean ups with ENDC and Hayes Valley and Together SF–it's a great movement that we want to see continue.
I am a member of Women's Transportation Seminar (WTS)
I am a member of CCSF's student-led Transit Team, fighting for low-cost transit passes for CCSF students.
Thank you
Thank you for giving us your time and answering our questionnaire. We look forward to reading your answers and considering your candidacy!
If you see any errors on this page, please let us know at contact@growsf.org.