BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
A Palo Alto school board candidate has been accused of lying about her credentials on the ballot.
Classroom aide Linda Henigin isn’t qualified to teach math as a standalone subject, yet she listed herself as a math teacher on the ballot, parent Virginia Noh said in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday.
“It gives her a level of credibility that’s unwarranted,” Noh said in an interview yesterday.
Noh said Henigin has a “multiple subject” teaching credential, which allows her to teach all subjects to the same classroom up to eighth grade. That includes elementary school classrooms and middle school core classes. Teachers are required to get a “single subject” credential to teach specific subjects like math, according to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing.
Noh is trying to get a judge to hear her case by tomorrow’s deadline for the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters to change what’s printed on the ballot.
She wants a judge to remove Henigin from the ballot.
Henigin hasn’t returned a request for comment.
Nor has she responded in court to Noh. She described herself on the ballot as “math teacher/mother.”
Math is a major issue
Henigin is running against Avery Wang, a “re-search scientist/parent,” and John Craig, a “parent/ operations executive.”
Noh is supporting Wang. She said math has been a big issue in Palo Alto, and Wang is immersed in the topic. He’s advocated for allowing students to get ahead in math and sued the district for allegedly holding his son back.
“While he’s not a math teacher, that is his specialty.” Noh said. “And I think it’s important that you be hon-est, especially in a race for school board, that you’re not lying about your educational qualifications.”
Focus on students
Henigin works as an aide at Duveneck Elementary School. She has encouraged the board to focus on students who aren’t reaching their potential, not parents complaining that academics should be more rigorous.
Henigin said general education classrooms should be the “default placement” for all students at a May 2025 meeting. She campaigned for candidate Nicole Chiu-Wang in 2022 and 2024. Noh was board member Rowena Chiu’s 2024 campaign manager.
Chiu and Henigin clashed during and after a contentious board meeting on Jan. 21, 2025, about whether the district should require students to take Ethnic Studies.
Chiu was skeptical of the mandate, and Henigin was supportive.
“As uncomfortable as folks here feel talking about power, our children are hungry for this conversation,” Henigin said at the time.
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The district should hire Hinigin and tell her to teach the multivariable calculus class at Paly. She’ll immediately want to switch to ethnic studies. Wait, you said you were a math teacher.
Isn’t Linda Henigan the same school board candidate who just got into trouble for abusing school resources to promote her campaign? And now she’s lying about whether she’s a math teacher with a CA math credential? Two strikes, folks…..
If this is true, this is a deliberate attempt to mislead the voters of Palo Alto. She has never hidden her opposition to offering opportunities in Math. She is all for holding back kids, so that kids who are behind would feel better. Doesn’t improve in any ways performance of kids who are at least a grade or two behind but makes them feel good. She feels that pretending to be Math teacher would make her in some way an expert in the field and set her apart from her opposition