The SF School Board and the Lowell decision

Like many San Franciscans, I’ve been very disappointed with San Francisco and California elected officials lately. It’s been a tumultuous few years and the last few weeks have really set me off.

The talk of the town has been the school board looking to take away my alma mater, Lowell High School’s admission criteria. We are one of the few public schools in the country that accepts students based on merit.

Lowell has been a public school known for studious kids who have ambitions to go to some of the world’s leading universities. Yes, Lowell has it’s problems and yes there is some bias in the testing requirements. Like other schools, we have our issues and there’s work to be done.

But while by no means perfect, I believe the school board is making an awful and short-sighted decision. The decision directly and negatively impacts highly academic students that do not have access to private schools. Some students work their lives with the hope to go to Lowell to learn alongside other students with similar mindsets. These students are largely minority and come from lower income backgrounds.

I do believe the SFUSD has a lot of work to be done across the board. The issue is fixing the other schools to get them closer to Lowell, not bringing down Lowell to the other school’s levels.

It’s a shame to see this school board decide to ruin a great school with history dating back to 1856. I’ll continue to fight this as much as I can. I know the majority of the San Franciscans that the school board is serving feels the same and I hope they come to realize this.