In San Francisco, Virus is Contained but Schools Are Still Closed

[David Lockmiller]

(03-11-2021 05:19 PM)Rob Wick Wrote:  So what you're really saying is as long as you don't idolize the person whose name is being taken off the school, the students have the right to petition for change. However, make it someone whom you idolize beyond all reason, and it's wrong.

Nice lesson to teach the youth of San Francisco.

Best
Rob

Rob, why didn't you just write a Reply to my actual email which I now quote:

No, I am saying that they are the ones who should have the right to change the name of a school if it doesn't reflect their values . . . unless they have a hidden agenda as do the elected members of the San Francisco Board of Education. For good cause stated - yes; for bad cause not stated - no.

Let me be clear, Rob. I am against the actions of the San Francisco School Board in authorizing the renaming of Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco on the basis of President Abraham Lincoln's role in the execution of the "Dakota 38," the largest mass execution of Native Americans in the history of the United States. And, if the "students who attend this school" petitioned the School Board to rename Abraham Lincoln High School for this same reason, I would be against that petition, as well.

If you think your statement describing my statement are the same thing, I disagree. Where do you mention the "Dakota 38" issue?

Nice lesson to teach the youth of San Francisco, Rob.

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For all of those, such as Rob, who would be interested in reading much more about the Brown Act violations in the Renaming of San Francisco schools, including Abraham Lincoln High School, I would suggest reading both the entire seven-page letter sent by attorney Paul Scott to San Francisco Mayor London Breed plus my Letter to Editor published in the Richmond Review. I quote from both sources immediately below.

LAW OFFICES OF PAUL D. SCOTT

February 1, 2021

BY EMAIL AND FIRST-CLASS MAIL

Re: Renaming of San Francisco Schools

Dear Mayor Breed:

First paragraph: I write concerning the recent announcement by the SFUSD Board of Education that it plans to change the names of 44 public schools in San Francisco. Like many San Francisco residents, I have appreciated your thoughtful comments in response to the School Board’s pronouncements on this subject. As numerous residents share your common-sense concerns, my firm has spent some time reviewing the process by which the Board arrived at its stated intention to change the names of the schools, and our conclusion is that the School Board’s decision violated the Brown Act and also fails from a due process standpoint. Accordingly, as litigation regarding the Board’s determination may otherwise ensue by legitimately frustrated San Francisco residents, I would respectfully request that the City Attorney be asked to review the points set forth in this letter and issue an opinion, so the School Board will have an opportunity, if appropriate, to reconsider its course of action.

Last paragraph: It is evident the School Board failed to provide adequate notice of what would be decided at its January 26, 2021 hearing and has begun to take action beyond the scope of the resolution that it passed there. For these reasons, its actions are unlawful. If the School Board wishes to consider the renaming of schools, at the appropriate time, it should do so with adequate notice and due process. The proposed action involves 44 individual schools, with different issues and numerous stakeholders as to each. As a purely practical matter, consideration of renaming should thus proceed on a school-by-school basis, at the appropriate time, with adequate notice and an opportunity to be heard by all those who would be affected by each individual decision. Overall, the School Board is engaged in an effort at profound change. The rigor of the proceedings by which they undertake that effort must therefore be commensurate to the task in order to arrive at a just and fully informed result.

Sincerely yours,
Paul D. Scott

CC: City Attorney Dennis Herrera San Francisco School Board

The following is from my Letter to Editor of the Richmond Review published online on December 9, 2019:

Editor:

I think that you should write an expose in the next issue of the Richmond Review on the machinations by San Francisco School Board with regard to the renaming of several San Francisco schools for unjust causes.

Herein anticipated actions by the elected School Board members would constitute a clear violation of the Brown Act by committing $10 million of public funds without an adequate public hearing on the basis for such expenditures. The apparent Board plan utilizes a so-called “blue-ribbon” panel to determine by consensus the adequate basis for renaming several schools in San Francisco as a result of individual panel members’ detailed historical research into dozens of historical figures previously so honored. The Board appointed panel included Mr. Sanchez, President of the Board, who attended only the first meeting of the panel on January 30, 2020, and thereafter, participated in none of the several subsequent public Zoom meetings of the panel.

Furthermore, there was no public discussion in any of the Zoom meetings posted online regarding the basis for dishonoring individual historic names, especially that of President Abraham Lincoln – there were only public “consensus votes” condemning important historical figures so-honored in the past by the citizens of San Francisco. I believe that the full Board will simply approve, with little or no discussion, the “blue-ribbon” panel’s carefully researched recommendations for individual school name changes, and then commit by a vote of the elected San Francisco School Board members to appropriate the expenditure of $10 million of public funds, and thereby, unjustly and unfairly dishonor the character and reputation of men such as President Abraham Lincoln and President George Washington by renaming San Francisco public schools named in their honor.

David Lockmiller

P.S.: Professor Michael Burlingame was the winner of the 2010 Lincoln Prize for his two-volume work on Lincoln, titled “Abraham Lincoln: A Life.” Professor Burlingame devoted five pages of his scholarly work to the 1862 Dakota Sioux Indian uprising and the subsequent actions taken by President Lincoln, titled “Magnanimity: Dealing the Minnesota Sioux Uprising.” (“Abraham Lincoln: A Life,” Vol. Two, pages 480-84.)

The introductory first paragraph contains the following important historical fact: “They (the Dakota Sioux Indians) killed hundreds and drove over 30,000 from their homes. It was the bloodiest massacre of American civilians on U.S. soil prior to September 11, 2001.”

I would be willing to bet one “Abraham Lincoln” (i.e., a $5 bill) that there is not a single member of the Renaming of Schools Panel, appointed by authority of the elected San Francisco School Board, that is aware of this important historical fact regarding President Abraham Lincoln’s actions in consequence of the 1862 Dakota Sioux Indian uprising.