San Francisco voters ousted three school board members in February in a landslide election that proponents hoped would reshape the city’s education policies and politics.
Just four months later, the ramifications of that vote are showing up in a big way.
The recall was driven in part by disagreements over how to handle admissions at Lowell High School, an elite public school that has been accepting students for decades, based primarily on high test scores and grades. (Lowell’s long list of notable alumni includes Judge Stephen G. Breyer and former Governor Pat Brown.)
In October 2020, the San Francisco school board voted to install a lottery-based admissions system in hopes of diversifying the student population and expanding admission as changes in California’s social justice gain momentum. At the beginning of 2021, the board made that policy permanent.
But the move angered many city parents, especially Asian Americans, who felt it unfairly limited their children’s long-sought access to one of the nation’s top-performing schools.
The Lowell student body is predominantly Asian — about 48 percent, compared to 35 percent at SF Unified schools, according to district data — and for many immigrant families, the school was seen as “a worn and cherished avenue to the middle class, to social mobility,” he said. Lee me.
The change in admissions policy felt like a particularly brutal blow after families endured some of the country’s longest pandemic school closures until spring 2021. Separately, families were also concerned about anti-Asian hate crimes. The school board’s recall became a stimulant for Asian-American voters, especially Chinese Americans, who are by far the largest group, accounting for 23 percent of the city’s population.
“The Chinese community is celebrating today as it really is the first time in a long time that Chinese voters flexed their political muscles and saw immediate results,” Lee told me. “It’s a wake-up call to the San Francisco political establishment that this is an emerging political force.”
But Wednesday’s vote was a disappointing result for those who supported the lottery approach.
They fear the system will leave black and Latino students with lower test scores. They also cite racism and harassment of black and brown students at Lowell. The introduction of the lottery system has reduced the number of Asian and white ninth-graders by about a quarter and black and Latino ninth-graders by more than 40 percent.
“The lottery system means Lowell is diverse,” said Virginia Marshall, president of the San Francisco Alliance of Black Educators and a representative of the NAACP, according to The San Francisco Chronicle. “It’s not just for one ethnic group. It is for all students who choose to make Lowell their home.”
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Where we are traveling
Today’s tip comes from Christine O’Hagan, who lives in Mentone. Christine recommends her favorite Southern California beach:
“Laguna Beach has everything! Beautiful beaches and sunsets, hotels, restaurants, art galleries and boutiques. A beautiful walking path around and above the beach. In July and August they have the Laguna Art Festival, the Sawdust Art Festival and the Pageant of the Masters with free parking and vehicles to transport people around Laguna Beach.”
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And before you go, good news
A celebration of purple flowers, the Ojai Lavender Festival returns this weekend after a two-year pandemic hiatus.
At Ojai’s Libbey Park, you can enjoy lavender-scented lemonade and purchase lavender-scented soap on Saturdays. Or relax and enjoy a picnic while listening to some live music, according to the Conejo Valley Guide.