SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – San Francisco's school board has unanimously admonished Commissioner Ann Hsu over her racist comment last month about Black and brown students.
For more, stream KCBS Radio now.
The San Francisco Board of Education – including Hsu and both student delegates – voted to do so in Tuesday night's meeting, following an impassioned public comment period that officials paused amid dueling chants of "Racist! Racist!" and "Support Ann Hsu!"
Commissioners Lainie Motamedi and Lisa Weissman-Ward, both of whom Mayor London Breed appointed alongside Hsu after the successful school board recall earlier this year, voted in favor of the resolution.
Hsu, a leader in the effort to recall three former commissioners, said in a San Francisco Parent Action questionnaire that "lack of family support," "unstable family environments" and "lack of parental encouragement to focus on or value learning" were the biggest challenges to bridging racial achievement gaps and educating Black and brown students.
She apologized for the comments and revised her answer in the questionnaire, writing instead that "many students in marginalized communities face extra challenges that create obstacles to their learning." Hsu said Tuesday night that "unintentionally" perpetuating stereotypes was especially painful given the bias that Asian communities face.
Her initial comments prompted a swift backlash from city officials, parents and community organizers, with the local NAACP and the teachers' union among the groups calling on her to resign.
Others stopped short, as Breed called Hsu's comments "wrong and hurtful" but didn't demand her appointee's resignation. A pro-recall group now known as SF Guardians said Hsu demonstrated she can "acknowledge, listen" and "grow" from mistakes, while District 4 Supervisor Gordon Mar and opponent Leanna Louie were among the San Francisco Board of Supervisors candidates calling for Hsu to remain in her role.
School board members allowed for 15 minutes of speakers supporting Hsu's admonishment on Tuesday night and 15 minutes of speakers opposing it, with additional non-English speakers for each side. Many of the speakers supporting her admonishment also called on Hsu to resign.
"We do not have time to educate someone on the board who decides our children's education," a speaker said to applause.
One speaker opposing admonishment also called on Hsu to resign, but the majority of those speakers expressed strong support for her. Board members called a recess during the anti-admonishment speakers' turn amid competing chants as a speaker who claimed the meeting was "wasting district time on performative anti-racism" said students' chronic absenteeism leads to prison time.
The speakers returned, one at a time rather than lining up against the wall, following the recess. Jenny Lam, the board president, said she heard "hateful and harmful words" from the audience, and threatened to throw out any additional attendees who disrupted the meeting.
"Ann Hsu will be a good commissioner. She will be fair, she will be diligent, she will use due process. Why don't we let the San Francisco voters decide her fate?" one speaker asked after the recess, referring to the November election in which Hsu will run for a full term on the school board.
DOWNLOAD the Audacy App
SIGN UP and follow KCBS Radio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Related
