Being unpolished is probably an understatement.

Chang said more than once in public that Superintendent William Bragg is "incompetent in communication." He called three of his fellow school board members "rubber stamping puppets" when they approved Bragg's raise at the same time teachers were taking a pay cut to preserve their health benefits.

There were times when Chang wanted to engage the community in the decision-making process so much that he asked for their opinions in the middle of a board meeting, even though the public hearing time was over and school board president Ben Liao had to stop Chang so the meeting could proceed.

In 2002, Chang withdrew his application to apply for the city's planning commission after questions of possible conflicts surfaced.

Many people don't like Chang for his bluntness, but more people like him for exactly the same reason. And their support for him was clear as parents, city council members, teachers and Chinese media packed the chambers of the school board at its Nov. 18 meeting—Chang's last official meeting.

Many of the supporters showed up even though Chang told them not to. Some, like Pei-pei Yow who couldn't attended the meeting, asked friends to read letters of appreciation to Chang.

"Barry is obviously very direct with his viewpoints and he is not shy about sharing them," said Yow, who has done a lot of community volunteer work with Chang. "With the increase in Asian student population and new immigrant parents who are not familiar with the American education system, Barry has been the liaison and has motivated the parents to get involved."

Parent Liz Tadman calls Chang "a crucial link between the administration and the community."

"He has met problems head-on, listening carefully to every side of every issue," Tadman said. "He is approachable, responsive and sensitive, three invaluable qualities in a school board member."

Chang smiled as he listened.

"Eight years ago when Michael Chang decided to run for the city council and left an opening on the school board, I asked more than 50 people who were more qualified than I was to run and all of them said no. So I ran," Chang said. (Barry and Michael are not related.)

Chang won the first election and the reelection easily but he never took his job lightly.

Every year, he made a point of visiting all 23 schools in the district to meet teachers and classified employees. He has devoted so much of his time to the school board that he has neglected his career as a real estate broker.

He has been the target of verbal attacks because of his outspokenness. In 1998 when he supported the proposal to start a Mandarin immersion program, he received hate mail and phone calls. "Go back to where you came from," some people told Chang, a native of Taiwan.

Chang never backed off.

"I don't regret speaking my mind and I don't mind people criticizing me for not being a team player," Chang said.

His decision not to run for reelection or any public office this year surprised many people, but Chang said he believes in term limits although the school board doesn't have such limits. "It's better to let different people serve. I have done my share," he said.

In retrospect, Chang said there is one thing he regrets during his tenure—while he was working for other people's children, he didn't spend enough time with his own.

Sue, Chang's wife of 21 years, said she vividly remembers Chang representing the school district to attend a meeting in Oregon when their daughter had a math problem and needed his help. "He faxed the answer back but the fax got smeared and my daughter just burst out crying," Sue said.

Many people congratulated Sue for "having her husband back." But Sue isn't so sure being off the board is really going to free up his time.

"I thought we would receive fewer phone calls now that Barry decided not to serve on the board but I was wrong," Sue said. "We get as many phone calls as we used to. People think Barry has more free time to help them with their community projects."