The San Francisco school board recall gives off a nasty vibe
John Doe
This week's San Francisco school board recall mirrors a familiar pattern. With three members losing their seats due to recall efforts, each triggered by various reasons, observers can easily spin their own stories.
The pandemic spawned prolonged school closures, renamed schools in honor of figures like Abraham Lincoln and George Washington under social justice premises, and attempts to shun tests and GPA requirements for elite public school admissions. The growing achievement gap, massive budget deficits, and a school board member's use of a racist slur in an anti-Asian rant all contribute to a discouraging mix.
Analyzing San Francisco's recall results reveals some valuable insights into the nationwide process. Wealthy conservative donors backed the recall effort, while activists and media blurred multiple complaints into one consistent message.
The "Parents' Rights" rhetoric surfaced in the 2020s, echoing conservative attempts in the 1990s to amend "Parents' Rights" bill in Colorado to control children's growth, education, values, and discipline. Today, this theme is being repurposed to pinpoint this era's education issues as a series of right-wing school policies crucial for the Republican Party's midterm strategies.
School politics, as old as mandatory education itself, have often stirred debates about access, evolution and sex education, obligatory prayer, and student behavior around these topics. Parents have consistently sought school rules in alignment with their values.
However, most educational issues ultimately find resolution in state legislatures, Congress, and courts. The Right's framing of school politics has successfully framed it as violations of parents' rights by politicians, bureaucrats, and judges. From banning school busing to the Boston busing crisis of the '60s, black parents, driven by the desire for equal access and better education, pressed their case against segregation.
Operation Exodus, organized by black parents prior to the court-ordered busing, sent their children to better schools ahead of the court-mandated busing. The 1970s court-ordered busing following white school districts' refusal to adhere to the 1964 Racial Imbalance Act led to the formation of groups like ROAR (Restoring Our Rights) - a white parents' organization that protested against school desegregation.
The idea that this movement was led by parents, particularly mothers, was instrumental in shaping the political demands of segregation opponents: first, state legislators, later the courts, to "force" parents to send their children to integrated schools, which was not only their right but their duty to act in the best interests of their children.
The tale of oppressed parents confronting an uncompassionate state elicits an emotional response, brushing aside the contributions of black parents.
The "Black Angst" trope recurred during the 1996 debate on the teaching of African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) in Oakland, with the school board approving a confusing resolution acknowledging AAVE, later criticized for advocating teaching "ghetto English" to black students. The Boston Globe summed it up as "teaching black children ghetto English".
This was interpreted as a confirmation of public schools' inability to effectively educate their students and the absence of clear standards under liberal bureaucrats.
The politicization of "black fear" sinisterly obfuscates the more substantial issue at hand, which is the underfunding and inadequate education of poor black students in the school system. A 1979 case filed in Ann Arbour, Michigan due to poor education for poor black students argued that the school system overlooked the students' socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, denying them the equal access to education.
The judge ruled that schools must identify students who speak AAVE and find ways to leverage that knowledge to support their education. The Oakland school board responded to these concerns.
The narrative surrounding Ebonics met with resistance, and Jesse Jackson, later, admitted to misunderstanding the issue. The school board resolution may not have addressed educational disparities in Oakland, but the rhetoric of "black fear" primarily serves conservative agendas rather than addressing the issues facing black students.
The "Black Panic" is one of many instances where Conservatives and Moderates find common ground. The Right capitalizes on moral panic by fostering a sense that something is amiss in education, leading concerned parents to be vigilant against progressive education policies.
