Dear Friends,

    Television attack ads against me began on October 2, paid for by a "committee" called the Partnership for Student Achievement. One ad falsely portrays me as an opponent of education reform -- after I have spent 30 years working to improve public education! The other ad is general and doesn't mention me, but touts improving student test scores in city schools. These ads cost $545,000 and are scheduled to run through October 23 on Channels 6, 7, 8, 10 and 51.

    This is A HISTORIC AND UNPRECEDENTED ESCALATION OF COST AND FEROCITY IN A LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION. WE MUST ASK: WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? Also, given the contribution limit of $500/donor for school board races, WHO IS PAYING FOR THESE ADS? WHAT'S IN IT FOR THEM?

    It is clear to me that business elites wish to exploit the potentially huge market that exists in contracts and real estate at San Diego Unified School District. Remember they "privatized" operations in San Diego County government a few years ago. The business model rules, even in education, and regardless of whether it is good for children in our schools! The stage is being set for this to happen in San Diego Unified with a sold-out rubber-stamp School Board enabling the action.

    Recently an e-mail was sent to school district administrators at 4100 Normal Street from Chamber of Commerce former Business Roundtable chair Tyler Cramer, a Point Loma resident and lawyer. He explicitly called for the election of my opponent and incumbent Board Members Ron Ottinger and Ed Lopez, so that the superintendent would have a "supermajority" of four Board votes to ratify real estate transactions. Cramer said:

"It's widely acknowledged that SD City Schools has literally hundreds of million of dollars of under-utilized assets. But to re-deploy the value of many of those assets and make that value productive often takes a supermajority 4-1 or 5-0 vote of the Board ...effective School Board Trustees ...give administration long term strategic policy direction. If you agree, it is imperative that Julie Dubick be elected to join Ron, Ed and Sue."

    This is business' bald response to my having voted against a land deal last spring to buy 20 acres of Kearny Mesa land at $16 million, when what we actually needed was 8 acres of land. The vote was 4-1. The law firm representing the undisclosed seller in that land transaction was my opponent's own law firm. An executive of the seller, "RNLN Co.", contributed personally to my opponent's primary election campaign. This was all outlined in a Reader cover story on 4/6/00 written by Matt Potter.

    My opponent is completely unqualified by background, interest or experience for the job of Trustee on a public school Board of Education. She is a partner in a real estate and business law firm with ties to the Chamber of Commerce. She is never mentioned in the barrage of attack ads WHICH ARE DESIGNED TO DISTORT THE TRUTH OF MY BOARD RECORD. I always vote thoughtfully and the best interest of our students is my first priority. Some proposals may sound good, but have negative consequences: it is important to consider the educational consequences when voting.

Fran Zimmerman

$545,000 TV Attack Ad Distorts Fran Zimmerman’s Excellent Reform Record

"I believe public school is one of the great common denominators in American life. As our society becomes more pluralistic, I believe public school becomes more important and relevant for the creation of an informed, productive and appreciatively tolerant citizenry. In this country, public school is our earliest common ground and, as such, deserves our full attention, energy and commitment."

"The role of a Board member is to speak and vote independently in the best interest of the children and community."

Before she votes Fran weighs the positive and negative impacts of any decision. Unfailingly, she votes in the best interest of children.

Fran Zimmerman has contributed new books to San Diego READS. She opposed allocating $1 million to San Diego Reads, a private philanthropic book drive, since this District money was needed for other important academic programs, such as music instruction. 

Fran Zimmerman supports developmentally appropriate full-day Kindergarten for 5-year olds. She voted against a poorly planned and hastily designed program which included full-day Kindergarten – with homework -- for 4-year olds. Before the vote, there was no discussion about the developmental pros and cons for young children. Furthermore, with the shift to full-day Kindergarten and the chronic facilities crunch, some Kindergartners ended up in bungalows on a high school campus. District Kindergarten teachers spoke to the Board this spring after one year’s experience about the negative impact of full-day Kindergarten on the children.

Fran Zimmerman demands modification of the deeply flawed "Blueprint." The "Blueprint" increases the risk of student dropouts by resegregating low-achieving mostly Latino and African-American children into long remedial class blocks of "literacy" and math. The "Blueprint" also affects regular and high-achieving secondary students. The number of available elective classes has been cut and class size has risen to 40 and more students in many regular classes.