Thursday, May 29, 2008

S.F. schools take on racism, classism

There have been so many conversations in GLA this year about structural racism's most tenacious problems, including race-based disparities in education and in the criminal justice system. While the road to undoing these conditions will undoubtedly be paved with trial and error, and with policies that may only scratch the surface, it is heartening to see a school district working strategically and intentionally to topple educational racism and classism.

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Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 28, 2008

San Francisco Superintendent Carlos Garcia took a first stab at putting his mark on city schools Tuesday with a plan that pushes the district to face racism and classism head on.

The district's strategic plan adopted by the school board 6-0 Tuesday night focuses on reversing the typical academic outcomes for black, Hispanic and poor students.

Although that sounds almost like a reworked version of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, district officials say they are working off a corporate model that puts everyone - from school board members to custodians - under the microscope in different ways.

A new grading system will expose schools - even the popular, high-scoring ones - that are failing to address the institutional racial inequities within their walls.

Click here for the full article from the San Francisco Chronicle

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

So glad that you posted this article! Congratulations to SF for making this effort. They will learn a lot from it, and other systems will benefit from what they learn. Also, like the fact that over 1,000 volunteers were engaged in developing the project.