Editor,
I was deeply troubled by a recent letter to the editor praising Héctor Camacho for “showing up” for students. I agree, “showing up matters. Our schools deserve leaders who are present, engaged and connected to the communities they serve.” But showing up requires more than words. It requires action. Héctor Camacho has not only failed to show up for our students. He’s been nowhere to be found.
As chair of the San Mateo County Juvenile Justice Commission, I have served for five years in a role that includes evaluating educational programming at our Court and Community Schools. In that time, I have not had a single interaction with Héctor Camacho, executive director of Equity, Social Justice, and Inclusion for the San Mateo County Office of Education.
Eighty-eight-percent of our youth in Foster Care, 77% of youth on probation, and 96% of students in our juvenile hall are youth of color. Their futures depend on the work of his office.
He has never attended a commission meeting or taken action to address barriers. He has not engaged with students or their parents. He has not been present in classrooms, on campus, or at community events. The closest he has come to engaging in this work was registering for our Prevention in Action conference in January, a convening focused on system-impacted students and educating educators on their unique needs. He no-showed.
As a child advocate for over 30 years, I am appalled by the misrepresentations being presented to the public for political gain. Our students deserve leaders who care about their futures and have the integrity to show up and do the work, like Trustee Chelsea Bonini has consistently done.
Johanna Rasmussen
Redwood City
The letter writer is chair, San Mateo County Juvenile Justice Commission. Views her own.
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(2) comments
At the 2025 San Mateo County annual Civics 101 Academy, a nine-week program covering county departments, public safety, and finance, I first met another attendee, Hector Camacho.
We immediately connected, and being a member of a minority community myself, plus having been a local government planner for thirty years plus, I was very impressed each time we talked during the different learning sessions that we both attended.
Hector is a humble public servant, someone who listens, and acknowledges that he is always learning, just like each of us should.
I have never met his opponent, even though I participate regularly in our local City of San Mateo public hearings and meetings.
I live in a minority neighborhood which has a large percentage of residents whose first language is Spanish (North Central San Mateo). The elementary school district has recognized that these eager students should not have to be bused to school in order to gain an education.
As a result, the District is constructing an elementary school just one block from our home. It is my understanding that it will be a Spanish-immersion school.
Having Hector as a County Administrator will provide an excellent example for all non-white students that change is happening - and for the good.
I have also recently seen committed young people volunteering to place signs for Hector throughout San Mateo. I spoke with one as she was placing a sign and she was well-trained how and where to place the political sign in the public right of way, in compliance with City of San Mateo regulations.
I have seen no signs in our North Central San Mateo neighborhood for the career politician also seeking to be elected County Superintendent of Schools.
Yard signs here are also uniformly supporting Hector Camacho. We have one already in our front yard.
I fully support the change that Hector represents.
Spanish Immersion Schools are NOT built to accommodate "the poor", they are expensive Magnet Schools built for "the rich".
We have three school districts in San Mateo County completely build around deliberately segregating schools:
- San Mateo Foster City SD who has several "Magnet Schools" with schemes around "Montessori", Mandarin or Spanish Immersion, GATE, etc. all are predominantly occupied by affluent families. They call all their other schools "underserved".
- Redwood City SD's Magnet Schools have schemes around "Parent Participation", GATE, "Enrichments", Mandarin and Spanish Immersion, etc. all these schools are predominantly occupied by affluent families. They call all their other schools "underfunded".
- Sequoia Unified HSD, which has been busing East Palo Alto kids around the county. Lately they had one STEAM TIDE Magnet School, which they want to move into a much cheaper magnet program.
Of the three, SUHSD seems the one cleaning up. They published that every student in a Magnet School costs double the available funding or $8M per year.
Now you look at SMFCSD and RCSD and they each have 4-5 Magnet Schools or $40-50M in wasteful spending.
All this is known in the County Office of Education. Hector Camacho knows exactly who is "underserving" these students and where the money goes.
But politicians like Nancy Magee or Hector Camacho can then go in front of cameras and claim that they are "showing up for the students" and its the big bad wolf in Sacramento who is not sending enough money.
If Hecto wants to show up for the kids, he should be more vocal about deliberate school segregation happening under his watch.
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