Santa Cruz Weekly recommends former Santa Cruz teacher George Martinez for Santa Cruz County Board of Education.
If George Martinez is elected to the Santa Cruz County Board of Education, he’ll be the only sitting trustee with experience as a teacher in the district he’s governing. Martinez taught math in the Santa Cruz City Schools for 32 years, which translates to hands-on experience we think will be valuable on the board. Some charter school supporters fear Martinez’ union background—he served as a leader in the California Federation of Teachers—means he opposes charter schools, but Martinez has made clear he supports charter schools as incubators of ideas that can scale up and improve public schools. He is endorsed by many local officials in the city and county of Santa Cruz and by several prominent Democratic organizations.
His opponent, current board president Aaron Hinde, is a chiropractor and parent whose Republican backers have poured $12,000 into his campaign, double that of his rival. He has endorsements from most members of the Scotts Valley City Council and the Senior Coalition, the anti-tax group that’s fighting Measure H in Santa Cruz. Hinde’s platform emphasizes accountability and fiscal discipline, terms we often hear in connection to a reductionist, bottom-line approach to governance that we believe is inappropriate for education. We recommend George Martinez for Board of Education.
