More on the SFUSD BoE in 2021

2021 Wasn't a Great Year

YOU GUYS GIVE UP YET? OR ARE YOU THIRSTY FOR MORE?

I joke, but I’ve always loved Home Alone.  I still watch it with my daughter. And she’s a teenager.

I posted a Tweet thread yesterday. It was quippy, but there’s nothing funny about the San Francisco School Board (SFBoE) in 2021.  What did I say, what did I mean, and what are the facts?  Let’s get ready to rumble.

But first, you know who loses here?  Our kids. The facts don’t lie. Our most marginalized kids are underperforming:

But let’s get to my Tweet.

1.     Years of Poor Budget Choices Bring SFUSD One Day Away from State Takeover

The BoE let the budget spiral out of control by years of avoiding needed balancing. California dropped the hammer: “shape up, or we’re taking over.”

SFUSD is running on empty.  It’s not entirely this SFBoE’s fault, but it certainly got out of control under this Board. 

That graph doesn’t lie.  Nor does the State when it calls SFUSD “not a going concern.”  SFUSD is in serious financial trouble.  We need to take it seriously.

Folks can blame Staff, COVID, or UFOs—I don’t care.  The truth is, Harry Truman wasn’t wrong.

The buck stops with the Board.  After all, it’s in charge of the budget.  It says that on its own website.

­This Board took its budget planning down to the wire.  It played chicken with the State.  We might have won this time, but let’s not make it a habit. 

My goal is to advocate so we never find ourselves here again.

2.     BoE President Gabriela López Asks to Be Fired; First President Ever?

Faced with a budget meltdown, two BoE Commissioners dropped a vague "plan” (two slides!) that the State guaranteed would end up in a takeover. President López voted for it anyway.

I was being sarcastic, for sure.  But faced with a massive debt, Commissioners Alexander and Sanchez proposed a vague “counter-plan” to the Staff budget.  It was a great idea in concept—no cuts to classrooms—but completely unrealistic.  And the State fiscal expert told us that, if it passed, we’d be taking the next step toward a State takeover. 

That “plan” was so unrealistic, that Commissioner Alexander withdrew it.  So why did President López vote for it?  Performative.  She claims the Board was “cornered” into accepting the Staff budget plan, but in fact she was simply appeasing her base. And was willing to bet SFUSD’s independence in her game.

In 2022, I intend to call shenanigans when I see them.

3. Reopening Schools? Meh.

SFUSD was nearly last in the country to reopen. The BoE didn’t care. Reopening wasn’t a priority in January. And Commissioners Collins, López and Moliga still say they wouldn’t change a thing.

I support safe schools. I worry about my daughter in her school.

But the fact is, in January 2021, reopening schools simply was not a priority for this Board.  You don’t have to believe me.  They told us.  Only Jenny Lam and Kevine Boggess listed reopening as 2021 priority. 

Worse yet, Commissioners López, Collins, and Moliga have no misgivings.  At least Vice-President Moliga admitted remote learning could have been better.   President López and Commissioner Collins have no problems with anything from this past year.

No one likes to admit failure.  But I try to practice honesty and self-reflection.  I pledge in 2022 to admit when I could have done better on social media.

4. The BoE Learned the Hard Way About State Laws

The BoE fared poorly in court this year, losing three times for violating state laws. Despite its terrifyingly debt, the BoE vowed to continue paying lawyers to defend its violations.

I don’t understand why this Board has so much trouble following the law.  Maybe it’s the General Counsel’s office. Who knows?

But no lawyer made this Board vote to appeal the George Washington murals decision within an hour of hearing a gut-wrenching intervention by the State’s fiscal expert telling the BoE to stop all spending on non-essential matters. In one ear, out the other:  six of our seven Board members thought it was “essential” to pay lawyers to fight about art.

We all give money to folks we don’t want to (looking at you, IRS).  But I don’t think we should give money to folks we don’t need to.

5. Commissioner Alison Collins Sued Her Own BoE for $87M; Lost Badly

Nothing says "I'm for the kids" more than wanting to nearly double the $125M debt and pocket the proceeds. She lost, but not before SFUSD wasted money defending it.

I’m not sure what else I can say.  Alison Collins sued her colleagues and our schools for $87M because she really really wanted to be President of the BoE.  $87M.  Let that sink in. Let me try to put it in context:  George Floyd’s family agreed to a $27M settlement.  Even worse, as she announced her lawsuit, President López stood behind her and applauded. 

And when the Court unceremoniously dismissed her case, the SFBoE didn’t bother to ask for its money back. Vice-President Moliga said “I don’t support pursuing legal costs.”  I guess because money grows on trees.

6. Remember When School Renaming Was a Big Deal?

The BoE kicked off 2021 by renaming 44 schools. Relying mostly on Wikipedia led to some questionable (at times hilariously inaccurate) historical conclusions. President López, a self-professed educator, blessed the work. Mercifully, it died.

I think everyone knows that the “blue ribbon” panel formed by the SFBoE (Commissioners Sanchez, Cook, and Haney) made us a national and international laughingstock. The shoddy work has been discussed over, and over, and over.  And it cost SFUSD $60,000 (but only after the SFBoE rejected an offer to settle for a mere $6,000).

The real problem is two-fold. 

First, the SFBoE actually spent seven hours discussing that “work.”  Shockingly, there’s no video, but you can read the carnage.  It’s bad news when Mission Local reports “Botched process. Botched outcome. Botched priorities.”

Second, President López tried to defend it.  Frankly, I almost felt bad for Mr. Chotiner after I read his interview with Ms. López.

7. Wait, She Said What About Asians? Again?

Commissioner Collins lost her VP role because she tweeted racist anti-Asian statements in 2016. Twitter even suspended her. Contrite? She posted a screenshot of her own words as a sitting Commissioner. And the BoE? Crickets.

I’ve been clear about this.  It was wrong to call Asian-Americans “house n*****s” the first time.  On a hot mic in 2020 she called Asian parents arguing against changing Lowell “racists.”  She called us “segregationists.”  Then she reposted her “house n*****s” Tweet after her ban from Twitter got lifted. And noone said a goddamned thing.  No wonder we’re seeing an uptick in anti-Asian hate crimes.  Somewhere along the line, folks like our BoE normalized it.

Silence is complicity.  I won’t be silent any more.

8. SF BoE President López continued to have simple messages for critics.

Ms. López enjoys reminding folks she’s the youngest person elected to be a president of the SFBoE.  It shows.

9. Only in San Francisco

After two hours of debate, the BoE determined that a white gay father of an interracial child wasn’t diverse enough to volunteer for the Parent Advisory Council.

I thought the post was funny.  But, really, it’s not.  I re-watched this video, and it never gets any easier. 

For the record, I don’t know Seth Brenzel. I met him a few weeks ago and we chatted for 90 seconds.  But what I saw in that video was disgusting. What I saw in that video was an SFBoE so angry by Seth’s association with a parent coalition asking hard questions that it decided to humiliate the guy. For ninety minutes.

Let’s be clear what we’re talking about. Seth Brenzel volunteered to serve on the Parents Advisory Council (PAC).  The PAC had tons of open seats.  The PAC itself endorsed his presence.  This seemed like a no-brainer.

Not with this SFBoE.  If the SFBoE actually cared, it would have respected the unanimous endorsement of the PAC. It might have asked Seth about his qualifications.  It might have asked him anything. It might have let him speak at all. 

None of that happened.  That’s bullying. And I will fight it if it’s my Asian community, if it's the LGBTQ community, or any community. 

10. Dead Rats or Gas Leaks? Are Those Our Only Choices?

Seriously.

Every public school district has schools falling apart.  What caught me (and the SFBoE finally) was the hypocrisy.  You see, this school has been falling apart for quite some time.  Commissioner Sanchez—its former principal—claimed to be shocked at its condition.  Yet paid consultants kept telling us it was “exemplary.”

The truth is, the SFBoE didn’t care about this school until the Chronicle published a story about a kid getting electrocuted. Then it was “all hands on deck, let’s find funding.”

I’m glad that BVHM might get fixed.  But what about the rest of our schools?

I simply refuse to have our schools falling apart over our kids’ heads while we talk about renaming or whatever.