Tuesday's meeting of the San Francisco Unified School District board reportedly drew more than a thousand attendees. Why? Because of the controversy surrounding board Vice President Alison Collins.
KALW's stories are meant to be heard. Please click play on the triangle above to hear this story and some of the public comment from the SFUSD Board Meeting.
The significant issue of reopening schools was overshadowed by outrage over Tweets Collins made in 2016. Those were shown to the media by people seeking Collins’ recall after she and other board members voted for Lowell High School to drop its merit-based admissions practice.
Those Tweets are about Collins’ experiences with and perspectives on some Asian Americans. Among other comments, she said, “Many Asian Americans believe they benefit from the ‘model minority’ BS. In fact many Asian American[s] actively promote these myths. They use white supremacist thinking to assimilate and ‘get ahead.'"
Many prominent San Franciscans have called for her resignation, but she refused, setting the stage for public comment at yesterday’s board meeting. Though hundreds may have wanted to say something, board president Gabriela Lopez limited comments to 40 minutes total about Collins words. Several people spoke passionately about the need for Collins to be removed. Others spoke equally passionately about their wish for her to remain.
After public comments the board moved on to talk about reopening schools and other business. So the Collins issue remains unresolved. But the San Francisco Examiner reports that tomorrow, two board members will introduce a resolution calling for Collins to be removed as vice president and stripped of all of her committee assignments.
