Elected superintendents' unconventional pledges draw attention
Jung Geun-sik's 'cost welfare,' Kang Sam-young's school bus plan among standouts
Lifestyle-focused campaign promises won over voters
The unconventional campaign pledges of candidates elected in the June 3 superintendent elections across 16 cities and provinces are drawing attention. Candidates who made strong showings put lifestyle-focused promises at the forefront — ones that reflected the practical demands of parents, teachers and students — and won broad voter support. Their pledges ranged from direct cost subsidies such as transportation and driver's license fees to concrete measures to protect teachers' rights.
According to education circles Thursday, Jung Geun-sik, who won the Seoul superintendent race, emphasized a pledge for "direct education welfare support." The key elements include field trip expense support for elementary and middle school students, public transportation commuting subsidies for students, and support for educational activity participation fees.
The pledge expands the scope of education welfare — which had previously been limited to free school meals and uniforms — into everyday living costs such as monthly transportation and field trip expenses. However, some critics have raised concerns that the competition over cash-style benefits is overheating, blurring the line between education policy and welfare electioneering.
Some candidates also tailored their pledges to local conditions. Im Jong-sik, who won the North Gyeongsang Province superintendent race, drew attention with a pledge to subsidize driver's license acquisition costs for high school seniors — a policy designed with the region's large rural population in mind.
Im had said he would "prioritize students who commute long distances and students at vocational high schools." Education circles praised the pledge as a locally tailored policy, noting that it directly linked rural students' mobility and job preparation rather than relying on generic basic academic skills or childcare discourse.
Kang Sam-young, who won the Gangwon Province superintendent race, also took local conditions into account, announcing a "Baro30 Bus" pledge with a promise to ensure all students can reach school within 30 minutes. The plan centers on building a multimodal transit network — expanding free school bus services and linking local circular buses, limited-license buses and 1,000-won taxis to cut commute times. The initiative aims to use the education office's administrative capacity to compensate for the physical constraints of Gangwon's mountainous terrain, where students often face long commutes.
Candidates who put "restoring teachers' rights" at the center of their platforms also won seats. Do Seong-hun, elected as Incheon superintendent, unveiled pledges for a "mental health doctor" program for school staff and a "teacher healing retreat center." The proposals — which include dedicated psychological counseling and a mental health support system — mark the first superintendent campaign platform to place teachers at the center of policy.
Unlike previous superintendent platforms that focused on student rights and student-centered welfare, Do's pledges targeted teachers directly as a policy beneficiary in the wake of teacher rights violations, earning positive reviews from teachers' organizations. The approach is seen as an example of a policy shift that broadens the education office's protective mandate from students to teachers as well.
Most of the newly elected superintendents put forward AI-related pledges, though critics said many lacked differentiation and specificity. A number of the winners promised to provide AI device purchases and AI subscription fee vouchers.
"It is regrettable that there were no candidates with genuine expertise in AI education, which holds the future of the education sector," one education official said. "We need to build a proper AI education support policy, not just after-the-fact subsidies."
brunch@heraldcorp.com
