S.F. Cancels Plans to Send Kids To Rally Safety issues derail
UC Berkeley field trip S.F. Cancels Plans to Send Kids To Rally Safety issues derail
UC Berkeley field trip
Julian Guthrie, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 6, 2001
©2001 San Francisco Chronicle URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/03/06/MNW197025.DTL
San Francisco school officials will keep hundreds of high school students and teachers in class Thursday rather than send them to Berkeley to rally for affirmative action. San Francisco Unified School District had planned to send as many as 500 students and teachers to the University of California at Berkeley on Thursday to rally for racial preferences in college admissions, as The Chronicle reported yesterday.
Yesterday morning, school officials issued a statement saying the field trip was canceled because of "unresolved safety and traffic issues." Associate Superintendent John Quinn said a memo was sent to school principals late Friday telling them the field trip was canceled. He urged social studies teachers to "plan teach-ins" on affirmative action policies instead. "This is not a decision we made because there was a reporter on the story," said district spokeswoman Jackie Wright.
"We got calls from the UC Berkeley police department. There were issues of logistics, trying to get in and out of the event. And (Superintendent) Arlene Ackerman is always concerned about children. When there were questions about safety, she made the decision to cancel the event." UC Berkeley police Capt. Bill Cooper said yesterday that one of his officers had a conversation with school district officials late in the day Friday.
The district was told by Berkeley police that if they were going to bring several hundred people -- particularly students -- they would need to get an action plan together immediately, Cooper said. "There are questions about where they would park the buses, where the kids would eat, how they would interact with our students," Cooper said. "These are things that need to be coordinated and planned ahead. That was not done in this case." Indeed, the resolution, called "In Support Of The Statewide Declaration Of Action On March 8 To Demand A Reversal Of The Ban On Affirmative Action," was approved by the school board on emergency status, without the customary two readings and committee review.
The resolution was unanimously approved by the board, which supports affirmative action policies in contracting, hiring and admissions. Ackerman, who attended the meeting, did not question the resolution. As superintendent, she does not vote on issues. Student and teacher volunteers from every comprehensive high school in the city were expected to board buses about 9 a.m. and return after 1 p.m. The rally, scheduled to begin at noon at UC Berkeley's Sproul Plaza, is expected to attract more than 1,000 UC Berkeley students and professors, as well as union leaders and activists.
It is being organized to show support for Regent William Bagley's recent proposal to overturn the university's ban on affirmative action. San Francisco Unified was the only Bay Area school district to urge students to participate in the field trip. The decision was criticized by local and state education officials, who questioned taking students and teachers out of school to attend a political demonstration. School board member Mark Sanchez, who wrote the resolution supporting the "Day of Action," justified the field trip as an historic opportunity. It could mark a "turning point in civil rights.
What we do has a ripple across the country," Sanchez said Friday. But by Monday morning, in a meeting with Ackerman and Quinn, Sanchez agreed that the security risks were too great. "When we started looking at it, it was clear that there would be no easy way to get that many kids over and back," Sanchez said. The school board won't have to formally revoke the resolution, Sanchez said. Under the terms of the proposal, teachers can still lead classroom discussions on affirmative action. Throughout the day yesterday, as Sanchez and other San Francisco school officials repeatedly cited the safety and transportation concerns, no one addressed the issue at the heart of the resolution:
Sending students to a rally in support of the ideological stance of adults. State Board of Education member Nancy Ichinanga, a retired former principal, said in no uncertain terms that she did not like the idea. Berkeley Unified Superintendent Stephen Goldstone said although his school district supported affirmative action policies, he would not consider taking children out of the classroom. "I'm really sensitive regarding instructional time," he said. Even after the field trip was canceled, Sanchez defended the resolution. "I don't think it's taking them out of class. It would have been an educational field trip. It's about their future, about kids being able to attend places like UC Berkeley."
E-mail Julian Guthrie at jguthrie@sfchronicle.com.
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