Lowell High perpetuates exclusion
In 1776, the framers of the Declaration of Independence wrote, “... all men are created equal ... with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
We now know this meant all white men; our country’s founders immediately excluded women and people of color. They had a clear idea of what the American dream should look like, and that vision had nothing to do with the majority of people who lived here.
Our country has never overcome this exclusionary history. And that reality forces us, even centuries later, to continually ask the question: Who is included in the dream and who is excluded?
In the 1860s, we fought a civil war in an attempt to answer the question. In the 1910s, the women’s suffrage movement forced us to reconsider it. The Civil Rights movement of the 1960s demanded we revisit the question yet again. Our country’s entire history has been a struggle to determine whether immigrants belong — and, if so, which ones? Our gay brothers and sisters were excluded from the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for most of our history. And they’re now having to fight once again to preserve those rights only recently granted. Just last week, in the blink of an eye, the Supreme Court took away the national right for women to have a safe legal abortion. This right was established 50 years ago and many of us incorrectly assumed it was a settled question.
I believe it is our duty as Americans to continually work to become a more inclusive society. And that is how I approached my five-year tenure as superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District — a tenure that came to a close on Thursday.
Last week, in one of my final acts as superintendent, I presented a resolution to the San Francisco Board of Education that, if passed, would have made Lowell High School a more inclusive school — by extending the interim admissions policy, first enacted during the pandemic, for another school year. This interim policy wasn’t revolutionary — it implemented at Lowell the same choice-based student assignment system used by all other comprehensive public high schools in San Francisco. Its continuation would have allowed students to list Lowell as one of their choices, instead of having to achieve a designated grade point average and standardized test score in order to qualify for admission.
In over four hours of public comments on my proposal, I watched as person after person came forward to explain that, even though they too had been excluded at different times in their lives because of their race, gender or social status, Lowell should continue to be a school that perpetuates the American cycle of exclusion.
To my disappointment, the majority of the school board chose to reinstate the old selective admissions practices.
The evidence is clear that testbased admission at Lowell resulted in a school where students of certain racial and socioeconomic backgrounds are excluded. If you don’t believe me, I invite you to walk through the school and look in the classrooms.
You can clearly see who is included and who is not.
Those who believe Lowell shouldn’t use the same process the district uses for its other high schools say that anyone who works hard enough can be admitted. That same argument was used for decades for test-based entry to elite colleges like the University of California. However, in May 2021, the University of California ended the use of the SAT and ACT for college admission. Officials came to accept the overwhelming pool of data that show test-based admissions to be unfair and biased toward poor, Black and Latino students.
“These tests are extremely flawed and very unfair,” said California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, a member of the UC Board of Regents who supported the decision. “Enough is enough.”
Every day over the past five years as superintendent, I did my best to hold to SFUSD’s core values as I made decisions: Student-Centered — we put students’ needs first; Fearless — we persist through challenges; United — we celebrate and build on each other’s strengths; Social Justice — we stand with those most vulnerable in our community; and Diversity Driven — we respect and seek to understand each person.
I believe the foundation of these values is inclusiveness.
Every public school in San Francisco has something special to offer students.
And every San Francisco student deserves an education that prepares them to succeed. By returning to Lowell’s previous pre-pandemic admissions policy for incoming freshmen, we are saying that only students who meet certain test scores have a right to attend one of our public schools.
How does that align with our core values?
I grew up in San Francisco, and it has been my greatest honor to serve the school district that raised me. My fondest wish for the future of the district is for it to be guided by a deeply rooted commitment to inclusiveness. I believe deep in my heart that this is the best and only path to making us a better district.
In the same way that this country moves toward a more perfect union when we are inclusive, SFUSD moves toward a more perfect district when it is more inclusive.