East Side Union High School District - Chris D. Funk, Superintendent

Home Board/Superintendent Superintendent Chris D. Funk, Superintendent

Chris D. Funk, Superintendent

Chris D. Funk, SuperintendentTop of Page

"Education is the great equalizer. As Superintendent, I recognize that our greatest challenge is to ensure that every student will meet or exceed grade level standards based on local, state or federal assessments. This must be our mantra. However, our educational system has become one of privilege and not one of a right that every child deserves, especially low-income students of color. We need leadership that brings back the privilege for all students and holds the entire organization responsible for attaining the goal of providing every student a world-class education regardless of their economic, gender or cultural background."

Chris D. Funk, Superintendent
East Side Union High School District

Chris Funk, a native of San Jose, received his MA in Social Science from San Jose State University in 1991. His career in education started in the classroom as a teacher with the East Side Union High School District at Yerba Buena High School. Eighteen of his 22 years in education were with the San Jose Unified District where Chris served for five years as the Principal of Lincoln High School.

During Chris' tenure, Lincoln High School earned a 21st Century School of Distinction, Lighthouse Award, California Distinguished School Award, a six-year WASC accreditation and improved its API score by 30 points to close the achievement gap between Hispanic and white students by 106 points, a 40% decrease in the gap.

Chris was promoted to Director of Human Resources in 2006 and successfully negotiated successor contracts with all six bargaining units. After one year, Chris was promoted to Assistant Superintendent, Division of Instruction, where during his tenure, the Board of Education passed Equity Policy 2010, which was the backbone to the new strategic plan the Board passed in May 2012. Chris worked at Lincoln High School when SJUSD was the first district in California to usher in the University of California, A-G default graduation requirements in year 1998.

Chris resides in San Jose with his wife Leslie, a chemistry teacher at Leland High School and their two sons, a freshman and senior at Lincoln High School.

Superintendent's Bio (PDF): English Spanish Vietnamese

E-Mail Superintendent Chris D. Funk
Office: (408) 347-5010