San Francisco School Board Commissioner Calls Merit-Based Education 'Racist,' Sparking Debate
On 2/4/21 at 1:21 PM EST
The merit-based admissions policy at one of the country's top public high schools—San Francisco's Lowell High School—has been called unfair and unjust in a controversial new resolution to end its selective process. A particularly sharp critique of the school's current policy came from Board of Education Commissioner Alison Collins, who called it "racist."
If passed, a resolution will change the admissions policy for an elite San Francisco high school. One school board member called the policy "racist."
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During a San Francisco Board of Education public meeting on October 13, 2020, Collins said, "When we talk about merit, meritocracy and especially meritocracy based on standardized testing...those are racist systems.… You can't talk about social justice, and then say you want to have a selective school that keeps certain kids out from the neighborhoods that you think are dangerous."