Election 2024: Corn, Vasudeo lead Berkeley school board race in early results

Clockwise from top left: Berkeley school board candidates Laura Babitt, Ana Vasudeo, Jen Corn, Norma Harrison and Abdur Sikder. Courtesy of the candidates

Jen Corn, a former Berkeley teacher and principal, appears to have a firm lead in early results for the race for two at-large openings on the Berkeley school board against two incumbents.

Ana Vasudeo and Laura Babbit, both sitting school board members, were fighting for second place, with Vasudeo ahead.

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Corn, the Director of School Improvement at Oakland Unified, has outspent the other candidates in the race and, in addition to Vasudeo, was endorsed by the Berkeley Federation of Teachers.

The teachers union’s endorsement has gone to the winners in at least the last nine school board elections. Babitt has been endorsed by every member of the Berkeley City Council except Cecilia Lunaparra.

“I’m feeling really excited and humbled that people are willing to trust me with their vote,” said Corn, who opted to spend election night at home with her wife and teenage son, a senior at Berkeley High, nervously cheering on Kamala Harris, “our hometown girl.”

Corn told Berkeleyside she is holding off on declaring victory until more votes are counted, but thanked volunteers for their support.

Trailing the race are Abdur Sikder, a computer science lecturer at San Francisco State University who unsuccessfully ran for office in 2018 and 2022, and perennial candidate Norma J.F. Harrison, a realtor and self-described communist.

The school board will be tasked with leading BUSD through a financial crisis as COVID-19 relief money runs out and state funding remains stagnant. In May, the board voted 3-2 to approve layoffs of roughly 20 district employees. Babitt was among those approving the layoffs; Vasudeo voted against them.

Vasudeo’s goals include “closing the opportunity gap for our most vulnerable learners, who include our black and brown students and students with disabilities,” she wrote in a Berkeleyside candidate questionnaire. Corn said equity — specifically “accelerating the achievement of students of color, students with disabilities, and students learning English” — was a top campaign priority. Babitt, elected to the school board in 2020, seeks to ensure “every dollar leads to measurable student success,” such as by improving math and reading curricula, afterschool programs, career and technical education and college readiness.

All three candidates are participating in public financing, meaning they can take contributions from individuals of up to $60 and have the contributions matched by the city 6 to 1.

Corn has raised and spent more than any other candidate. As of the campaign filing period ending Oct. 19, she has raised $14,300, and spent about $31,000, mostly on campaign literature. Over the same period, Vasudeo’s campaign has raised about $5,000 and spent $24,600, mostly on campaign literature and phone banking. Babitt’s campaign has raised $8,600 and spent $18,600, mostly on campaign literature.

Berkeley’s five school board directors — who hold four-year terms and are tasked with setting policy and approving the budget of the school district — are elected at-large, not by district, meaning voters can cast votes for any of their top three candidates regardless of neighborhood. School board directors are not elected using ranked-choice voting, unlike some other city offices.

Sixteen- and 17-year-old Berkeley residents are able to vote for school board director for the first time this year. The cities are the first in California to lower the voting age in school board elections.

Annie Sciacca contributed reporting to this story.

Election 2024: Corn, Vasudeo lead Berkeley school board race in early results

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