County education board candidates dispute ballot description

Two Richmond residents who’ve never held public office before are at odds over how one is described on the ballot as they compete for a chance to represent west Contra Costa County on the county Board of Education.

Anthony Caro and Daniel Heiss are running to represent Area 1 on the board whose powers include hearing charter school petitions, considering appeals for inter-district transfers, and approving or denying the County Office of Education’s budget, which was about $96 million last year. 

The winner will succeed Consuelo Lara, who served one term and is endorsing Caro. The area represents El Cerrito, El Sobrante, San Pablo, Pinole, Richmond, and parts of Kensington and encompasses all of the West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD).

In interviews, Caro said he wants to improve teacher retention and college and career readiness and support WCCUSD’s community-based schools. Heiss said he wants to eliminate the school-to-prison pipeline and improve athletics and arts education.

In addition to both growing up in Los Angeles and attending its public schools, both candidates have run for other public offices. In 2018, Caro ran unsuccessfully for the WCCUSD school board. At the time, he was attending UC Berkeley and doing community organizing with Citizens Power Network, a now defunct grassroots organization he founded that focused on civic engagement for K-12 students. 

After the election, he put his education on hold and did four years’ active duty with the U.S. Army in South Korea and Kuwait. Caro said he decided to serve to gain life and leadership skills. He’s still in the Army as a sergeant in the National Guard, and he’s finishing up his education at UC Berkeley as a triple major in political science, philosophy and history. He also does financial consulting.

Before Heiss decided to join the race in early August, he had announced his candidacy for Richmond’s District 5 City Council race. He withdrew from the race, though, telling Richmondside he wants the council to “have more diversity of thought” and felt dropping out would increase candidate Ahmad Anderson’s chances of defeating Sue Wilson. Heiss said he’s happy about switching races because he feels “education is the best way to heal everything.”

Heiss has a bachelor’s degree from Washington State University in communications and English, and later attended Georgetown University, earning a master’s degree in sports business, finance, and economics. He says he’s held several jobs doing mostly fundraising work for university athletics departments, working for a fraternity’s nonprofit wing which gives scholarships, and for a company that does nonprofit consulting. Currently he works at PredictHQ, a tech company that does work with AI.

A controversy over how Heiss is representing his qualifications

The way Heiss has presented himself to voters has been a source of some controversy. On Aug. 20, Caro sued the Contra Costa County Clerk Recorder for allowing Heiss to describe himself as “Educator/Economic Commissioner,” on the ballot, a designation Caro believes is “false” and “misleading.” 

In Heiss’ election filings, he states that he works for Phi Kappa Sigma Fraternity as the international vice president of leadership and education and that in this role, he travels to higher education institutions and events to “facilitate educational programs and ensure curriculum meets a standard of excellence.” He also said he had been appointed by former Richmond Mayor Tom Butt to the city’s Economic Development Commission, serving on that board from the summer of 2022 till January of this year.

When asked about his current occupation, Heiss told Richmondside, “I work in sales and at a tech company” and said that his current work with Phi Kappa is as a volunteer. Heiss said he believes it’s accurate to list himself as an educator since he’s “been involved with education almost every single day since 2010.” 

According to his LinkedIn profile, he has worked at several universities since 2013, but it does not state that he has ever been employed as an educator, teacher or instructor.

Although Heiss no longer serves on Richmond’s Economic Development Commission, he said since he left the role relatively recently it’s still appropriate to list himself as an economic commissioner on the ballot.

“Since within the last year I had worked in the commission,” Heiss said, “I don’t see anything wrong with listing myself that way on the ballot, and I think it follows not just the letter but the spirit of the rules.”

Caro told Richmondside he thinks Heiss’s ballot designation is unlikely to be changed, as ballots must be printed soon, and he especially objects to Heiss listing himself as an educator, as he finds it disrespectful to teachers. Caro, who listed himself as a financial consultant on the ballot, said he also worries that the way Heiss has listed himself could deceive voters.

“Having a ballot designation that’s misleading can play a big factor when it comes to votes,” said Caro. “Especially on a (low profile) race where you might not know much about the candidates. Who would you vote to be on an education board if you saw ‘Financial Consultant’ and ‘Educator’?”

Candidates disagree on charter schools, which board renews permissions for

At the League of Women Voters candidates forum, Caro and Heiss expressed differing views on charter schools — a controversial subject statewide. Supporters say charters offer students opportunities not available in public schools, and are good for communities. Others say charter schools negatively impact communities by siphoning students and funds from public school districts while having less oversight.

In the candidates forum, Heiss struck a laudatory tone while speaking about charter schools, saying “fill in the gaps parents see in [school] choice.” He specifically praised Making Waves Academy, a Richmond charter school  that got the county’s permission to operate after initially being turned down by the WCCUSD board.

“Charter schools, at least at Making Waves Academy, have figured out a way to set a better standard,” Heiss said. “I believe when it comes to choice that is exactly what a charter school offers, and that is the role of a charter school. You don’t have to send your child to a charter school, but you have that ability should you want.”

Caro disagrees.

“I don’t think charters are there to fill in the gaps for public education,” Caro said. “The reason parents are sending their children to charter schools is not necessarily because they’re so great, but because they feel neglected by our public school system.”

Caro said he believes in determining why families are seeking to attend charter schools and then figuring out how to improve the public schools they’re exiting from. He pointed out that “not every student can go to a charter school.” In California, when charter schools fill up, who can attend is determined by a random drawing.

Regardless of how one feels about charters, California county education boards hold a lot of power in determining if they can operate. Although privately managed, charters need permission from either the local district education board, the county board, or the state board of education. If a local district denies them permission to operate, a charter will usually then ask the county board for approval. If the county says yes, the charter then must regularly renew that permission with the county. But the county board doesn’t have final say either. If the county board denies a charter school petition or renewal, the charter can then ask the state board for permission to operate.

For the first time in years, the issue of renewing some charter schools’ permission to operate will be determined by the Contra Costa County Board of Education. Deadlines for charter schools to renew their petitions to operate had been pushed back multiple times during the COVID pandemic.

Now, over the next four years the board is scheduled to renew petitions of all eight charter schools in Contra Costa County, including five expiring in the coming year — three of which are in Richmond. Additionally, 15 other charters will be considered for renewal at local school districts countywide, including Leadership Public Schools Richmond and Amethod’s Richmond Charter Academy. 

If a school district denies a school’s renewal petition, or if a new charter tries to open but the local district denies their petition, the county will likely then consider that schools’ ability to continue to operate.

Caro told Richmondside he believes in parent choice and would not try to shut down charter schools out of some bias against them, because that would be illegal. County boards of education can only deny charter school petitions or renewals if they determine they fail to meet certain legal standards such as “presenting an unsound educational program.”

Other issues: Teacher retention, school budget woes

The Contra Costa Office of Education operates training programs that district schools can use, and Caro said he thinks these programs can be improved to help teacher retention. He specifically wants more funding for the county-run Teacher Induction Program, which provides new teachers with mentors.

“An excellent teacher mentorship program already exists,” said Caro. “But we could collaborate to fund it more.”

The county also trains teachers via career technical education programs such as welding and web design so they can help equip students with specialized skills. Caro said he wants to expand these programs.

WCCUSD has been facing budget woes and recently used reserve funds to cover a projected budget deficit. Caro said that budget decisions lie at the local school board level, but if he’s elected to the county board, he plans to advocate for more efficient spending by advising WCCUSD to spend less money on consultants.

“My big thing is fiscal responsibility,” Caro said. “There’s a lot of waste in WCCUSD, and too much money spent on consultants.”

Although the county board has little control over local district teacher salaries, which are generally set at the district level, Heiss said he wants to advocate for better teacher pay.

“Teachers change lives, and the people who have the ability to change lives deserve to be paid better,” Heiss told Richmondside.

When asked about specific county programs he wants to support, Heiss said he wasn’t aware of the specifics yet but is trying to learn more.

“I’m still in the early stages of doing all the research to know about every opportunity we have,” Heiss said. “I understand I have a lot of research to do, and I’m not afraid to admit that.”

In the League’s candidates forum, Heiss said he believes “the whole of my life experience,” and specifically his work writing and accepting grants and managing budgets and building professional development programs, makes him “a uniquely qualified candidate.”

Who’s backing Caro and Heiss?

United Teachers of Richmond, the California Democratic Party, and 11 other organizations have endorsed Caro, as has State Superintendent of Schools Tony Thurmond, Richmond City Council Council member Cesar Zepeda and 22 other local politicians.

Caro has reported raising more than $2,410 for his campaign this year. His biggest contributors include $250 donations from both El Cerrito based scientist Shelley Green and from California Teacher Association Union Rep Mark Mitchell and $200 donations from Contra Costa Board of Education Trustee Sarah Butler, Pinole based realtor Ruthie Abelson Olivas, and the B.A.C. Local 3 California union. 

Other notable donations include $100 donations from District 6 Richmond City Council Candidate Shawn Dunning, Richmond-based public school teacher Helen Kang, and retired Richmond-based teacher Michael Nye.

Heiss has no endorsements listed on his campaign website, although he said in a candidate forum hosted by the League of Women Voters that the Peace Officers Research Association of California has endorsed him. He also has not reported any campaign contributions. Candidates aren’t required to report donations if they’ve raised less than $2,000. Heiss told Richmondside that he feels he hasn’t secured endorsements because of his relatively late entrance into the race, pointing out that Caro has been campaigning since April.