Letter to SFUSD School Board Regarding Lowell Admissions
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
CADC Recommendation Slate on World Journal
CADC Slate layout by World Journal
CADC Supervisors and City / State Proposition Recommendations
CADC Bilingual Recommendations
CADC Endorsements for November 3rd 2020 Elections
District 1 Supervisor:
1st Choice: Marjan Philhour
2nd Choice: Veronica Shinzato
3rd Choice: David Lee
4th Choice: Connie Chan
District 3 Supervisor:
Danny Sauter - Sole Endorsement
District 5 Supervisor:
1st Choice: Vallie Brown
2nd Choice: Daniel Landry
District 7 Supervisor:
1st Choice: Joel Engardio
2nd Choice: Ben Matranga
3rd Choice: Emily Murase
4th Choice: Myrna Melgar
District 11 Supervisor:
Ahsha Safai - Sole Endorsement
San Francisco Board of Education (4 Seats):
Jenny Lam
Mark Sanchez
Michelle Parker
Matt Alexander
San Francisco City College Board of Trustees (4 Seats):
Alan Wong
Tom Temprano
Shanell Williams
Anita Martinez
For the complete list of the Current Endorsements:
- CADC November 2020 Endorsements
For the Endorsement Graphics:
August General Meeting
1) Return of the July Candidates
Scott Wiener, Ahsha Safai, Joel Engardio, Marjan Philhour, Vallie Brown, Michelle Parker, Danny Sauter
2) Candidates’ Meet & Greet
Myrna Melgar, Ben Matranga, Jenny Lam, Veronica Shinzato, Tom Temprano, Matt Alexander, Shanell Williams, Emily Murase, Aliya Chistie, Mark Sanchez, Connie Chan, Han Zou, Vilaska Nguyen
3) Voting members to rectify the Endorsement Recommendations
CADC Endorsement Slate for November 2020
Congratulations to the endorsed candidates. CADC wishes you success!
July 2020 General Meeting
Synopsis of the the July 11th, 2020 meeting held over Zoom
Issues Discussed
Joining Save SF Jobs Coalitions
Speakers In Attendance
Scott Wiener for State Senator Re-election
Marjan Philhour for D1 Supervisor
Danny Sauter for D3 Supervisor
https://www.northbeachdelivers.com
Vallie Brown for D5 Supervisor
Email: [email protected]
Joel Engardio for D7 Supervisor
https://www.engardio.com/chinese-traditional
Ahsha Safai for D11 Supervisor
https://www.ahshaforsupervisor.com
Michelle Parker for School Board
https://www.michelleparker.org
CADC's Statement on George Floyd
Press Release!
The Chinese American Democratic Club (CADC) of San Francisco joins in solidarity with the African American Community to protest the senseless and violent death of African Americans at the hands of police officers.
We watched with horror how Mr. George Floyd’s life was squeezed out of him in a matter of 8 minutes by a police officer allegedly acting within the scope of his official duty. A police officer’s primary responsibility is to protect and serve the safety of citizens. The United States loses the moral high ground when our law enforcement engages in such brutality. We cannot advocate for freedom and democracy for other’s sovereignty and sanction those countries that we deem to violate human rights when we do much worse.
The treatment of minorities in this country requires an honest assessment and recognition by our political leaders that we have a very serious racial problem in the United States that cannot be swept under the carpet. This history of oppression has also been felt amongst Asian Americans from Japanese Internment, to the LA riots, and the murder of Vincent Chin. The Asian communities understand how precariously we are treated within this country and so we understand the need to be better allies with other communities instead of joining in with the divisive rhetoric that seeks to highlight our differences.
We join in solidarity with our African American brothers and sisters to protest against racism and police brutality. We strongly oppose the way President Trump is handling this serious tragedy by ordering the shooting of looters. Social remedies need to be developed and implemented. The major US Departments, and humanity based non-profit organizations need to form a Coalition, to develop a summary of the problem, identify the root causes, and develop a list of recommendations, and with goals and timetables.
CADC stands up with America, as part of Humanity. Understanding we must seek to return to the theme of acting as brother/sister with all countries. Our air, our water, our environment, our fisheries, our wildlife, our trees are all intertwined. It’s time to Stand Up together to tackle this problem...and at the same time tackle the many other problems that face Humanity.
Please contact us to participate and/or assist in leading this important project.
Sincerely,
Josephine Zhao, President
Bayard Fong, vice-president
Board and Members