School Board Reform Update 3
Welcome to my special newsletter about actions to change the school board. This is update 3.
More than 1,000 parents and residents have signed up so far. The list has doubled in a week. The goal of this newsletter is to bring people together, provide information, and give direction on how you can get involved.
This update includes:
Communication Links
Conversation with Gabriela Lopez and Jenny Lam
Where’s the Recall?
Mayor Breed Essay on Reopening Schools
Visual Graph CDC vs. SFUSD Opening Guidelines
Petition to Open Schools Using CDC Guidelines
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Thanks for your support,
Joel Engardio
COMMUNICATION LINKS
It’s important that we can find and share information in a central place on social media.
If you are on Nextdoor, please join the citywide group “How to Change the School Board.” Click here to join.
If you currently have kids in public school, I encourage you to also join the Facebook group “Decreasing the Distance.” Click here to join.
Let me know if there are any other relevant social media groups I can share in the next newsletter.
CONVERSATION WITH GABRIELA LOPEZ AND JENNY LAM
TogetherSF is hosting a conversation about reopening schools. Board of Education President Gabriela Lopez and Commissioner Jenny Lan will attend. They will be asked about the plan to safely reopen schools and provide updates on the school board’s progress.
Wednesday February 17
7pm
Click to register
WHERE’S THE RECALL?
The question I’m asked most often: “Where can I sign a recall petition and how can I donate to or volunteer for the recall effort?”
An official recall organization does not exist yet. Several independently formed groups who want to recall the school board are actively discussing how to consolidate into one effort. They still need to legally create a political action committee. When such an organization launches with a website I can point you to, I will announce it in this newsletter.
It’s taking time because recalls aren’t easy. Read my earlier blog post that outlines all the hurdles for getting a recall to qualify for the ballot.
But there are motivated people who believe it is possible to channel all the parent and resident outrage into a successful recall campaign. Stay tuned.
It’s also important to note there are equally motivated groups who believe there are better solutions than a recall. They are interested in the following two options for making long term structural change:
Put a charter amendment on the June 2022 ballot (the earliest possible date for a charter amendment) to restructure how the school board is formed by having the mayor and/or other officials appoint members instead of directly electing them.
Put a charter amendment on the June 2022 ballot to change the citywide election of school board members to district elections.
And there is yet another group of motivated residents who believe the best course of action is to use the system we have: recruit a slate of qualified candidates and kick out the incumbents up for re-election in November 2022.
I predict that multiple efforts will go forward in tandem, led by different groups: a recall, a charter amendment, and a slate for the November 2022 election.
None are mutually exclusive. Many parents and residents will likely support all the efforts.
If enough signatures can be gathered this spring, a recall of eligible school board members could happen by October or November. A charter amendment in June 2022 could fundamentally change how the school board is formed.
There’s always the risk of both the recall and charter amendment losing at the ballot box. That’s why parents should definitely start organizing a slate of candidates to kick out the incumbents in November 2022 in case everything else fails.
I’ll let you know when official groups are launched and how you can help.
Here’s a preview: the group Families for San Francisco is creating a separate PAC called Better Public Schools. The new PAC’s mission: “To help lead the effort to install a more qualified Board of Education.” It also has a long term goal to fundamentally improve public schools “beyond one election cycle.”
The Better Public Schools website will go live next week. But organizers are hosting an informational meeting on Thursday February 18 at 5:30pm. Click here to register.
MAYOR BREED ESSAY ON REOPENING SCHOOLS
Be sure to read and share this substantial essay by Mayor London Breed, who makes a strong case for reopening schools — backed by data. You’ll find lots of links to authoritative sources that you can use.
Mayor Breed says: “The longer we wait, the longer our children continue to fall behind. No plan is going to be perfect, we’ll need to continue to adapt as circumstances change, just as we have with our approach to fighting this pandemic. But not having a plan in place at this point is just not acceptable. By doing so, we’re planning to fail, and we’re failing our students and our families.”
CDC VERSUS SFUSD OPENING GUIDELINES
Parent Siva Raj made this effective visual graphic comparing the CDC guidelines with SFUSD’s plan for reopening schools. Siva and his eight-year-old son were recently featured on ABC-7 News talking about how distance learning by Zoom has taken a toll on many families. Siva wants SFUSD to use the CDC guidelines. He started this petition.
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NOTE: This newsletter and previous updates are also published as blog posts. Click to read and share on social media:
Update 3
Update 2
Update 1