David Cheng, a consumer advocate attorney, is running for the Area E seat on the Poway Unified School District board of trustees. The San Diego Union-Tribune asked all the candidates running for school board in districts around San Diego County about their policies, plans and priorities. Here’s what Cheng told us about his. Why are you running for school board? What makes you a good candidate? I’m running because PUSD can do much better, and our children deserve better. PUSD used to be the envy of other school districts. Now we’re known for scandals, our test scores have been declining, and we have a $28 million budget shortfall. Courtesy David ChengDavid Cheng (Courtesy David Cheng) I’ve pledged to give back 100 percent of any compensation I receive as a board member back to PUSD because I firmly believe that responsible financial stewardship must start from the top. The public school system has greatly benefited my family, and serving on the board is my way of giving back. PUSD needs experienced leaders with financial and legal expertise. Prior to becoming a consumer advocate attorney, I held finance-related leadership positions in Fortune 500 companies, including experience with managing $400 million of annual spending. Given my experience and education, I am confident that I can provide the leadership that PUSD needs during this challenging time. What is the most important issue currently facing your school district? Due to the mishandling of the recent superintendent scandal by the current board, community trust and staff morale are low. Academic excellence has also been suffering, as seen by the declining test scores. On top of that, we have a $28 million budget shortfall. For the 2024-2025 school year, PUSD teachers are not receiving a cost-of-living adjustment. In other words, our teachers are receiving a pay cut when accounted for inflation! I think all of these issues point to ineffective leadership and management mistakes by the current board of education. The board needs to stop placing blame on external factors — the state budget, the superintendent, the community for rejecting a proposed bond in 2020. The board must take ownership of PUSD’s performance and failures. I believe the community is desperately calling for more effective leadership on the board. What are the top three specific things you would seek to accomplish on the school board? Increase teacher pay: We must pay our teachers more in order to attract and retain quality teachers. As discussed above, PUSD teachers (effectively) received a pay cut for 2024-2025. Instruction is PUSD’s core offering, and instruction affects student performance more than anything else. We must invest more in instruction, not less. Increase transparency: PUSD belongs to the public. As such, crucial information must be publicly available. For example, spending breakdown by individual programs is not publicly available. Without that information, the public cannot assess the cost-effectiveness of various programs. Increase public engagement: For anyone that has attended PUSD board meetings recently, it seems obvious that the board is not receptive to public comments. Public comment has been cut to 30 minutes total, regardless of how many members of the community are willing to take the time to provide feedback. We must value and consider public comments carefully. What would your approach be to district budget planning and spending? What would you do if your district had a budget shortfall? To address Poway’s $28 million shortfall, we must reduce spending. While the board certainly must explore ways to increase funding, hoping for and relying on increased state funding is not a viable strategy. Reducing costs is not easy, but it is possible. I managed $400 million spend previously, and I was able to reduce spending by $30 million without laying off a single employee. I would first examine a few areas for potential efficiency such as professional/consulting services ($20 million), general and administration ($35 million) and other operational areas. We also need to assess the cost-effectiveness of the programs that are currently being offered. To do that, performance metrics need to be established for each program, and we also need transparency around the costs of each program. Without objective measures that are transparent, the community cannot feel confident that the best decisions are being made. How should your school district raise student academic achievement, and what would you do as a school board member to accomplish that? I think most people would agree that the one element that has the greatest impact on a student’s academic achievement is the teacher. This is particularly true during elementary school years, when students spend the vast majority of their day with a single teacher. Thus, I strongly believe that increasing teacher pay to attract and retain quality teachers is the most effective way to raise student academic achievement. This year, we are asking teachers to do the same job but with less pay (no cost of living adjustment). While we have many dedicated teachers, it is unrealistic to believe that teacher morale won’t be affected. In addition, many of our teachers cannot afford to live in the area that they teach, which reduces the time that they can devote to preparing lessons. Instruction is PUSD’s core offering. We must invest more in teachers, not less. Do you think anything currently offered in school curricula or libraries should be removed? If yes, what, and why? If no, why not? First of all, schools and libraries should not ban books. In fact, it is illegal in California for school districts to ban books. With regards to curricula and books in the library, those materials are chosen by teachers, staff and librarians, and that should continue to be the process. The role of the board is to provide oversight and receive feedback from the community, since the board serves as the link between the district and the community. Thus, if community members believe that particular materials should not be included in the curriculum or library, they can bring it to the attention of the board. The board should then look into the matter, conduct a review and provide a response to the community members as to why or why not changes were made. Ultimately, community members may not agree with every decision, but there must be engagement and transparency. What do you think is driving student absenteeism in your district, and what would you as a school board member do to reduce it? I believe the top reasons are mental health challenges, academic disengagement and insufficient support systems. Mental health issues among students are increasing, which is made more severe by social media and bullying. Many students find school to be boring, and most do not like going to school. Lastly, families are facing economic and transportation challenges that they cannot overcome by themselves. I am hopeful that California’s cell phone ban starting in 2026 will dampen the negative effects of social media, but proper execution of the ban by the board will be important. We also need to do better at preventing bullying in our schools. If we can attract and retain quality teachers, I believe students will be more engaged academically. Lastly, the district should partner with community-based organizations and nonprofits to provide support services to families facing difficult times. This will help the students be able to attend school more consistently. Do you think schools should notify parents if their child’s gender identity or presentation at school changes? Why or why not? California law prohibits school districts from requiring staff to notify parents of their child’s gender identification change. However, this does not prevent schools from notifying the parents — schools just cannot be required to do so. Thus, I believe it is up to the teacher and the school’s discretion to determine whether notifying the parents would be in the student’s best interest. In making this decision, the student’s well-being must be the most important consideration. Every student is unique and so is each circumstance, and therefore the board should not attempt to set guidelines that apply uniformly to all students. Teachers have daily interactions with students, and they have also established a relationship and trust with the students. Thus, they are in the best position to evaluate whether notifying the parents would promote the student’s well-being.