July 29, 2022

Every parent wants the best for their children. Parents want their children to have a better life than our lived experiences. We acknowledge that Commissioner Ann Hsu's words caused pain to the Black and Brown communities. She has received the well-deserved criticism in the court of public opinion. We want Board of Education commissioners that are willing to listen and acknowledge his/her flaws in order to improve the public schools system and better serve their constituency. Commissioner Hsu’s apology reflects the seriousness of the damage her words have caused. She has retracted her original statement and written a full and sincere apology. She has humbly met with aggrieved parents and community leaders.

Last week, the Board convened to elect our new Board positions for this coming year. Receiving a majority of support we are pleased to announce:

Brian Quan as Vice President 1

Wilson Chu as Vice President 2

Gregory Leung as Secretary

Calvin Louie as Treasurer

Adlai Jew as Parliamentarian

Sam Kwong as Auditor.

The Chinese American Democratic Club is committing to rebuilding an AAPI coalition to advance AAPI issues, equity, and access in SF.

The Chinese American Democratic Club (CADC) strongly condemns racist language and actions in all forms. We are
outraged at SFUSD School Board Member Alison Collin's 2016 Twitter tweets that insinuated Asian-Americans are
"house n****r". Ms. Collin's reference is degrading in its language and unacceptable regardless of her intent.
We are also outraged that Board Member Collins had targeted Asian-Americans and solicited evidence to fit into her
preconceived beliefs that undermine the Asian-American communities' credibility. It is irresponsible and hurtful to cause
division by singling out the Asian American community. She must realize that to fight racism, we must come together as a
coalition and not sow seeds of division by pitting one community of color against another.

We disagree with the SFUSD Board of Education’s decision to institute lottery admission at Lowell High School.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 30, 2020
Contact: Bayard Fong, CADC Vice-President, (415) 672-9015
[email protected]
San Francisco, CA
Chinese American Democratic Club (CADC)

PARENTS CONTINUE M-W-F “AFTER SCHOOL” RALLIES AT
SFUSD HEADQUARTERS TO SAVE LOWELL

One week ago, parents, students, teachers, and concerned San Franciscans united to rally at the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) Headquarters to ‘Save Lowell’ as a nationally recognized Blue Ribbon School of academic excellence and to urge SFUSD to create more schools like Lowell. Calls and e-mails to the Board of Education and the Superintendent to reconsider the sudden change in academic admissions to a lottery (a system that the School Board voted in 2018 to phase out) for less disruptive alternatives have been ignored.

This week, members of the Board of Education reported threats. CADC and Save Lowell participants denounce any threats of violence to the Board members or any elected official and condemn the use of any hateful or racist comments. CADC and Save Lowell participants continue to rally to open a dialogue that was denied to stakeholders by SFUSD and the Board.

No doubt the COVID-19 pandemic has posed a challenge in implementing the Lowell admission process that considers grades from 7th and 8th grades and SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium) test results. But, COVID-19 does not justify abandoning academic admissions altogether. Alternatives such as a combination prior available grades and a personal statement would be far less disruptive to parents and students considering Lowell as a choice.

The School Board gave notice of the proposed policy change on Friday, October 9, on the SFUSD Website for a first “discussion” on Tuesday, October 13 and a vote on Tuesday, October 20. Most School Board members demonstrated that they had no idea of the current Lowell admissions policy but yet were ready to replace it with a lottery because of personal ideologies. That is not in the best interests of our children.

The current Lowell academic admissions policy reserves 30 percent of the seats to students who have overcome adversity and show promise and students from underrepresented high schools. A lottery system would ignore this diversity component.

Though the lottery system was initially presented as a temporary one-year plan, Board members have already advanced the system as a permanent replacement to academic admissions.

Our focus is on saving Lowell and ensuring that all students have access to quality education across the district (more Lowells). We believe all students, given the necessary academic and social support, can excel at the highest levels. SFUSD and the Board of Education must do their job and well serve every student beginning at
the K – 5 level, rather than artificially discussing placement at the high school level. Students must be presented with challenging curriculum and be academically and socially prepared to join a 21st century
workforce.

CADC representatives, together with other concerned individuals, will continue to rally three times a week. We encourage SFUSD and the Board of Education to have a dialogue with stakeholders.

We will be at:

San Francisco Unified School District
Board of Education Headquarters
555 Franklin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Mondays • Wednesdays • Fridays

3:15 PM – 4 PM

Rally to demand Board of Education to focus on the right priorities

Friday, 10/23/2020, 3:15pm-4pm

555 Franklin, 94102 

Parents and their children will be holding a rally in front of the SFUSD office (555 Franklin) on Friday (10/23) from 3.15 pm to 4 pm to demand the Board of Education to focus on reopening schools and to work towards delivering excellent and equitable education.

In the past few months, the school district and the board have not focused on the right priorities. The Lowell admissions debacle is not the only example. Just last week, Mayor Breed rebuked the board for prioritizing renaming schools instead of reopening them.

During the only scheduled meeting for public discussion for Lowell admission, Board member Alison Colins, was heard on a hot mike, saying, "I'm listening to a bunch of racists." Families demanding a fair and transparent process should not be called racists. As the community faces more and more discrimination during the COVID-19 pandemic, that comment was especially jarring.

Parents and their children will protest every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 3.15 pm to demand the board to focus on what San Francisco families really need.

Chinese American Democratic Club 

抗议三藩市教育局，无视家长 罔顾民意 10/23/20/五下午 3:30pm，555 Franklin St

敬爱的传媒，

10/23/2020星期五下午 3:30p-4p，家长们将带孩子一起去教育局门前（555 Franklin）抗议教育委员、教育局、学生代表和校区，抗议这些官方无视上万学生和家长，罔顾我们的首要需求和努力，缺乏尊重，缺乏民主。

教育委员会和教育局的强硬手腕，无论在新冠期间不开校反而去改校名，对Lowell 临时收生改制草草行事，缺乏透明，并辱骂家长“racists”。这件事上，教育委员会、教育局、学生代表，把 165 年历史的三藩市之骄Lowell，以一天的通知、一周多的听证，就废掉武功。太不尊重 8600 人的网上请愿，和3000 人参与的网上民意调查结果。会议上还有人说，发言反对的都是白人和东亚人，都是racists。也有教育委员指我们家长是racists，并公然说不恭敬的话。

我们必须愤然反抗！本周五开始，逢星期一、三、五下午3:15pm-4pm，我们带孩子一起到555 Franklin门口 抗议，一直抗议到天荒地老，一直到我们得回应得的尊重为止，绝对不能被几个人几天就把世世代代的努力抹杀，让我们再次进入 被排华的黑暗时代。

我们必须自强！ 我们赶紧行动起来吧！

- 

Seeyew Mo / 巫世友

Bayard Fong / 鄺炳榮

Victor Seeto

Josephine Zhao / 招霞

三藩市華裔民主黨協進會

Dear SFUSD School Board President Sánchez, VP Lopez, Commissioners, Student Delegates, Superintendent Matthews and the School District, 

The Chinese American Democratic Club opposes the District’s  lottery proposal for Lowell High School admissions for the coming year.

The CADC was founded in 1958 was formed when the Chinese “red scare” resulted in unfounded investigations into San Francisco Chinese community organizations with an intent towards mass deportation

A review of Chinese American history reveals an unrelenting efforts for over 150 years of discrimination and attacks that has been centered in San Francisco. This proposal echoes the refrain first shouted in 1870’s by Dennis Kearney, “The Chinese Must Go!”.  Currently, instances of racial attacks during the pandemic reveals that this atmosphere of bigotry continues.

The history of the Chinese community and education has been one of struggle and oppression. Only through appeals to the highest court has the Chinese been able to secure their due to access their equitable right to a decent education from first earning the right to San Francisco school in the 1800’s to establishing bilingual education. At Lowell, about 15 years ago, although being the largest population group, we were subjected to rigid enrollment ceilings that have forced Chinese applicant group to earn near perfect grades to enroll compared to other groups who can score lower grades. Again, the Chinese community had to mount legal challenges to this District who possess virtually unlimited resources to mount a defense.

If underrepresented groups feel that they are unfairly treated because they are handicapped by social economic pressures or other hardships compared to affluent households let us formulate creative approaches so that the “pipeline” of promising students can be expanded. Diversity is an important element to the educational experience that should be increased. Merit has not been a hindrance to enrollment in students of color but a spur to work harder.  Although a review of Lowell’s students who are economically disadvantaged shows a school average of 36%., a review of the major groups of color show very high enrollment from this category -  47% of Asian students at Lowell are economically disadvantaged. 50% of African Americans and 66% of Hispanics fall into this category. This large group of economically disadvantaged students have worked hard to gain this critical path to social mobility.

Academic excellence has been a Lowell tradition for 165 years. Its existence has put tens of thousands of students on the path of social mobility.  Please don’t rip it all down, let’s work to make it better.

Sincerely,

Victor Seeto, Issues’ Co-Chair

Bayard Fong, 1st Vice President 

Josephine Zhao, President

Chinese American Democratic Club 

Cc: 

SFUSD Email addresses:

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Board Members

Stevon Cook

Mark Sanchez, President, 2020

Alison M. Collins

Jenny Lam

Gabriela Lopez, Vice President, 2020

Faauuga Moliga

Rachel Norton

Shavonne Hines-Foster, Student Delegate, Lowell High School - 2020-2021

Kathya Correa Almanza, Student Delegate, June Jordan High School - 2020-2021

Dr. Vincent Matthews, Superintendent

Esther V. Casco, Executive Assistant to the Board