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Race in the S.F. School District

By: Samson Wong, Mar 24, 2008
Tags: Bay Area, Potstickers |

Garcia: Race Debate Will Be ‘Uncomfortable’
New San Francisco Superintendent Carlos Garcia stirred up a firestorm over his use of the n-word in 2000 in Clark County, Nev. The community stopped short of demanding his firing, as Garcia apologized and assured the public that he was using the expletive to preach racial tolerance. Last week, Garcia — selected for his “progressive” values by an equally progressive School Board — spoke about race again inside Chinese for Affirmative Action’s community room during a Chinese American Democratic Club meeting. Its former presidents — including accountant Roland Quan (1997-98, 1988-89), graduate student Anthony Chow (1995), former Civil Service Commissioner Louis Hop Lee (1978-79, 1983), former S.F. Democratic County Central Committee member Henry Louie (1996), law students Amy Chang and Lee Cheng, and others through the Asian American Legal Foundation — led the successful 1994 fight (Ho v. SFUSD) to end race-based student assignments in the S.F. Unified School District on behalf of Chinese Americans, who now make up 31 percent of students. They won, while the APA civil rights community ripped or ignored CADC and the pleas of Chinese American parents. …

SHAME OR ACTION: Garcia, who succeeded interim head Gwen Chan, said, “We pretend to be a very liberal city, but we do have some issues that we have to deal with. And we need to have those discussions [about race],” he said. His new strategic plan is “going to make people uncomfortable. But I don’t think you could just be blind to it; [race is] an issue. We have got to put it out in front. And if we don’t get our kids to deal with that issue, then shame on us. We’re going to do something about it.”… BE CAREFUL: Implementing a race-neutral student assignment plan was fraught with controversy, including Chinese parents storming the office of Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, the district’s first African American head, in 2003. … Chan’s tenure was relatively quiet over assignments. …

RACE OR NOT: Some nagging questions have been whether race-neutral student assignments are fair to all APAs (comprising more than two in five students) and not just Chinese Americans — and whether SFUSD has the leeway to once again use race-based assignments after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated two voluntary desegregation plans in Washington and Kentucky last June. … BUSING DOESN’T WORK?: Responding to ESL community college instructor Big-Qu Seeto’s appeal for safer learning environments, Garcia said: “You can’t just send somebody somewhere because that doesn’t work. We have to get back to the center of the community. … The only way to do that is to start working more for neighborhood schools. … That’s going to have to be a bigger priority.” If students come from “all over the place, no one takes responsibility for children,” he said. …

LAST HIRED, FIRST FIRED: Although Eric Mar, Hydra Mendoza, Norman Yee and Jane Kim form the APA School Board majority advising Garcia, district enrollment has plummeted from 93,710 in 1967 to 56,315 in 2007, leading to loss of funding. Complicating it further has been the governor’s 10 percent budget cut — forcing the district to beg June voters for a $4,000 increase in property tax over 20 years. The district could lay off 355 of the most recently hired teachers as mandated by state law. APAs comprise more than one-fifth of all district teachers. …

CADC REUNION: Former presidents like myself (1993) and Harry Low (1963) have been invited to Empress of China on March 28 for the club’s annual dinner. Former State Insurance Commissioner Low has been invited to give remarks to the political club. …

CADC ALUMNI: Among club presidents are Superior Court Judge Lillian Sing (1977-78), College Board trustee Lawrence Wong (1992), ASIAN Inc. Presidents Michael Chan (1985-86) and Harold Yee (1987, 1981-82), Asian American studies professor Ling-Chi Wang (1974-76), Supervisor Gordon Lau (1970), Commissioners Doug Chan (1990-91) and Mel Lee (1968), former Postmaster Lim P. Lee (1961), radio personality Gimmy Park Li (1971) and myself (1993). …

Reach Samson Wong at (415) 321-5886 or
swong@asianweek.com.

Get more scuttlebutt from the Chinese American Democratic Club’s meeting at …
www.asianweek.com

Comments

  1. Samson:
    I know I am several generations “out” of touch with the issues raised here, but I believe, at heart, that the realities of “education” today make mock of “race” and “quota” AND all perceived benefits and advantages thereof.
    I may be wrong, again, but I DO believe that I was one of the first four “Chinese-Americans” admitted to Lowell High in 1932.
    And as such, if correct, may I point out to those parents who “stormed” commissioner? offices that they are in error in more ways than one?
    It is no longer a matter of separate and unequal schools like the Commodore Stiockton grade-school of my day, where said underprivileged and undereducated students still managed to outwit their betters.
    When upward-climbing parents equate the school with the schooling and the rated/ranked faculties with “teaching,” then it is, obviously, the wannabe wealthy blinded by their own greed.
    The Mainland monarchs may well have pronounced that riches, wealth?, greed?, are “good,” but please note that the nouveau-riche there are emulating, sadly and tastelessly, the conspicuous-consumptives of the “roarin’ ’20s” who bequeathed the fun and frolic of shimmying “Charlestons” along with the Wall Street lays an egg observers.
    All this ego-satisfying and oneupmanship chess moves are as relevant to the “realities” of sociopolitical and socioeconomic surrealities as I am to you.
    Landsmen in office and counting their shekels have little or nothng to do with most of us.
    And playing this game is as productive as voting for McCain, Art Hu notwithstanding.
    Frank Eng

    P.S.: Lowell is, today’s “Chinese” preserve? God, I hope not.

    when

    –Frank Eng on Mar 24, 2008

  2. My name called out in vain again? Eng a product of “gawd I gotta get my kid into” Lowell? Lowell was the only place that legally bragged about discriminating against Chinese Americans, with the complete backing of the Chinese for Affirmative Action (Against Chinese), headed by that guy who’s now in the state department of education? Affirmative action today only promises blacks numerical parity with whites, but NOT parity with white religious minorities such as Episcopalians, Mormons, Jews, or Asians and anybody else who has the audicity to get better grades than their neighbors of a different color or belief. In order to do that, we’ll need more, not fewer Rev Wrights to advocate for quotas on every identifiable over-minority, not just whites. Who do you think we’re kidding, Berkeley _IS_ overrun with Asians. Who’s with me for more quotas for more groups for everything?

    –ArthurVote4McCainHu on Mar 25, 2008

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