Mark Sanchez

Mark Sanchez is an American politician in San Francisco, California. He was on the San Francisco Board of Education from 2001 to 2009, and served as president of the board from 2007 to 2009. Sanchez lost a 2008 election for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in District 9. He was again elected to the San Francisco Board of Education in 2016. He was elected President of the Board in 2020, having been vice president since 2018. Political career San Francisco Board of Education Sanchez was a long-time teacher in San Francisco. He founded Teachers for Change and Teachers for Social Justice before running for the Board of Education in 2000. In 2000, he became the first Green Party member and the second openly-gay Commissioner on the Board of Education. Sanchez represented the opposition to then-Superintendent Arlene Ackerman. The San Francisco Chronicle blamed Sanchez in part for the tense relationship the Board had with the superintendent: What (Ackerman) doesn't need is sniping and second-guessing from elected officials whose job is to set broad policies, not micromanage the superintendent's daily conduct. Tensions between school board members and superintendents come with the territory. But in San Francisco, those tensions had gone far beyond the limits of acceptability. Three board members in particular—Eric Mar, Sarah Lipson and Mark Sanchez—need to start working with Ackerman, not fighting with her virtually on a daily basis.