December 2020 Update
The SFUSD Board of Education has pushed back it’s date for “alternative names” from the school sites until April 19th. President of the Board, Mark Sanchez, would like the full Board to review and discuss the list of schools in January, but not consider potential new names at that time. They will validate or modify the list of schools that should be renamed.
October 2020 Update
The below letter is from the group of SF Alumni Associations that oppose changing the names of the schools. The below FAQ will hopefully catch you up on the basics of what is going on.
—*Why?*—
On May 22, 2018, the SFUSD Board of Education passed Resolution No. 184-10A1 to establish a panel to oversee a formalized process that reviews San Francisco public school names. This panel will be responsible for considering the relevance of schools names and appropriateness of these names when they honor historical figures and making recommendations to the Board of Education for further action.
—*What is the criteria for a name change?*—
According to The Committee the criteria is as follows:
-Anyone directly involved in the colonization of people
-Slave owners or participants in enslavement
-Perpetuators of genocide or slavery
-Those who exploit workers/people
-Those who directly oppressed or abused women, children, queer or transgender people
-Those connected to any human rights or environmental abuses
-Those who are known racists and/or white supremacists and/or espoused racist beliefs
—*What is the latest update?*—
The Committee has determined 42 school names that are up for a potential name change. They have asked the schools to come up with two choices for a new name. This is due back to the committee by December 18th.
—*Why Lincoln?*—
The Committee is citing the Dakota Uprising of 1862 as the reason for Lincoln’s inclusion for a name change. In the incident, over 300 members of the Dakota Native American tribe were sentenced to death. Lincoln commuted all but 38 of these sentences and the men were later charged with murder and rape and subsequently hanged in what is the largest mass execution in US History.
—*Abraham Lincoln is regarded as one of the greatest American Presidents. Doesn’t the good outweigh the bad?*—
The Committee has determined not to hold this standard for Lincoln.
—*What can be done?*—
1) The School Names Advisory Committee welcomes public comment at their virtual meetings on Wednesdays and via e-mail at school_names_advisory@sfusd.edu. Their next meeting is January 6, 2021.
2) E-mails and letters can also be addressed to:
Dr. Vincent Matthews, Superintendent SFUSD, 555 Franklin St. SF, CA 94102. e-mail: matthewsv@sfusd.edu
Mark Sanchez, President, Board of Education, 555 Franklin St, SF, CA 94102. e-mail MarkSanchez@sfusd.edu
3) The coalition of SF Alumni Associations opposing this change at SaveSchoolNames@gmail.com
What if I want more information?
The Committee’s guiding principles, recorded meetings, list of schools and minutes can be found on the SFUSD website at: https://www.sfusd.edu/…/school-renaming-advisory-committee, you may also contact the Alumni Associations opposing this change at SaveSchoolNames@gmail.comGutentor Simple Text
3 thoughts on “School Name Changes”
Absurd. To avoid any future problems with the school names why not “SF high school # 1,2,3,4 etc; SF elementary school 1,1,2,3,4“ and so forth. There could no absolutely no one offended by that! “They” whoever that is have taken everything else from us
To: Jon Woo
Jon:
I hope you and all the people you are close to have been well during these difficult times.
I think, but I’m not sure about all the specific reasons, that the School Renaming Committee wants to rename Abraham Lincoln High School at least in part because of his involvement with the Dakota Uprising.
If I correctly understand the history, Lincoln saved the lives of almost 90% of the Dakota tribe who were sentenced to death for their participation in the uprising. And his response to the politicians who urged him not to reduce the sentences of those 265 Dakota tribe members was something like “I will not trade people’s lives for votes.” The Republicans subsequently lost ground in Minnesota. I have a hunch Lincoln had other more pressing issues to deal with than to worry about his party’s political standing in Minnesota at the time.
I don’t understand how we can categorize Lincoln’s involvement with the Dakota Uprising as anything other than a Hero. I don’t believe that the argument should be framed as “Doesn’t the good outweigh the bad?” because I don’t see anything bad that Lincoln did. Lincoln should be revered for saving the lives of those 270 people.
Jon, I’d like to better understand the background of the school renaming process as it relates to Lincoln High. Would you, or the person in the Lincoln Alumni Association closest to this issue, please send me the specific reasons why the Renaming Committee wants to rename Lincoln High. I could not find this information on the Renaming Committee’s website. I can probably get it from the Committee, but I’d probably get it faster from you. I’d also like to see what communications the schools collectively or individually have sent to the Renaming Committee and the School Board.
Thanks,
Dan Rosenthal (F ’64)
Hi Dan,
I would refer you the committee of Alumni Groups trying to save the names at SaveSchoolNames@gmail.com. They have been following this much more closely.
The Board’s School Renaming Committee has cited the Dakota Uprising and has taken a different view on it than most everyone else. We believe the argument is weak and unjustified.