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SF Votes to Rename 44 Schools: Goodbye “Lincoln” & “Washington”

In controversial move, Board votes to change school names like Roosevelt, Lincoln, Washington, Feinstein and John Muir
By - posted 1/27/2021 No Comment

Thanks to NBC Bay Area and San Francisco Chronicle for letting us know that the San Francisco Board of Education voted on Tuesday to rename 44 public schools.

The board voted 6-1 following months of controversy on how to treat schools that were named after “iconic figures unworthy of the honor.”

Among of the school names that will be changed include Abraham Lincoln (due to his treatment of Native Americans), George Washington (due to being a slave owner) and former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein (who oversaw the replacement of a vandalized Confederate flag at City Hall) and many others, some, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, with no major connection to slavery, oppression or racism.

Watch the debate: January 26th SFUSD Board of Education meeting Archive – Please note this is an 8+ hour meeting (the discussion begins around the 5:01:43 mark) or watch below.

First you can hear people for the resolution with the goal of limiting each person to one minute each. Afterwards are people against the resolution.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that it will cost the city at least $1 million to rename the sites.

The schools have until April 19 to come up with new names after which the names will be brought back to the board for a vote.

“the panel has forwarded the names of more than 40 school sites to district leadership with end date of April 19, 2021 to suggested new names to be reviewed by the panel and the panel will make a final recommendations for new name to the board of education. Therefore be it resolved that the board of education review and sanction the panel’s list of school names for potential renaming.”

Read more at San Francisco Chronicle