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SOMA housing hearing
It's Joe time!
Castro Merchants and the flag
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Home movies
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Courtesy Yes on 16 campaign
A screengrab from Yes on 16’s digital ad.
For gay educator, a school year like no other
CA Props 16, 18 may affect young people
by Matthew S. Bajko
T
hursday morning Mark Sanchez will welcome a new class of fourth graders back to school in Brisbane where he works as an elementary school teacher. Unlike on the first day of school in years past, he will be the only one in his classroom, as his students will be tuning in online via videoconference. Like school districts across the country, the Brisbane School District has opted to virtually kickoff its 2020-2021 academic school year due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. And it remains unknown when the K-8 public school district on the Peninsula south of San Francisco will reopen its school buildings for inperson instruction. The last time Sanchez was in his classroom in front of his pupils was March 16. For the rest of the spring and summer his school district reverted to distance learning, which he and his colleagues all did from their homes. “It was definitely the most challenging experience I have had as a teacher,” Sanchez, 57, told the Bay Area Reporter in a phone interview this month. See page 8 >>
by John Ferrannini
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here are 12 state propositions on the November ballot this year, and two of the most controversial may have special ramifications for California’s young people. Proposition 16 would repeal California’s 1996 ban on affirmative action in the state, which could change how universities admit students, and Proposition 18 would lower the voting age to allow some 17-year-olds to vote.
Affirmative action
Vol. 50 • No. 34 • August 20-26, 2020
San Francisco school board president Mark Sanchez is seeking reelection this November. Courtesy Mark Sanchez
The practice of considering race, sex, or ethnicity in college admissions and public contracting and employment to ameliorate the effects of discrimination, known as affirmative action, was ruled to be constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1978 case of Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, so long as a specific quota system is not used and race is considered among a variety of factors. Nevertheless, California voters passed Proposition 209 in 1996 to ban affirmative action in the state. Its major champion was Ward Connerly, a Black Republican activist and then-UC regent. Prop 16 would repeal Prop 209, amending the California Constitution to once again allow affirmative action. It is supported by Equality California, the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, the Alice B. Toklas LGBTQ Democratic Club, and the California Democratic Party. (Neither of California’s major political parties responded to requests for comment for this story.) “Prop 209, which bans equal opportunity, has devastated our state and community, especially communities of color, for decades,” Samuel Garrett-Pate, the communications director for EQCA, said in a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter. “That’s why we support repealing Prop 209 by passing Prop 16. We were proud to work with the LGBTQ caucus, the Black caucus, and the Latino caucus to make sure it reached the ballot this November. Our country is going through a reckoning with racial injustice and this is a big part of addressing racism.” See page 8 >>
Garcia begins first academic year as Berkeley City College president by John Ferrannini
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aking on the job of college president would be challenging at any time; but Angélica Garcia has done so in one of the most tumultuous years in recent memory. “I came on board during the pandemic,” Berkeley City College’s new president, who is pansexual and the first Chicana to lead the institution, told the Bay Area Reporter. “I have yet to share personal space with 99.9% of my colleagues.” But COVID-19 presents more to the college than a mere professional adjustment. And it is not the only challenge this year is presenting. “The issues caused by COVID-19 can’t be understated,” Garcia said. “As a public educational institution, we have to be ready with what we see from the public health perspective. I’m learning more about health and safety and harm resources in a way I would have not without it. “During this time of recession we need to be reminded of the fiscal context, because Berkeley City College finds itself as a publiclyfunded institution,” she added. “That public education is featuring so many cuts – that’s definitely a challenge. And the added challenge is amidst all of this we have the racial injustice in our communities and across the state. If we were on campus, we could have the students
Courtesy Berkeley City College
Berkeley City College President Angélica Garcia
navigate Black Lives Matter but right now we are unable to support students in the way they need with the interpersonal, cross-counter interaction.” Garcia, 44, became the president of Berkeley City College, part of the Peralta Community College District, on May 7. It is her first role as a college president. She said one of her
major goals is increasing student completion rates. A resident of Oakland, her previous role was as the vice president of student services at Skyline College in San Bruno on the Peninsula. The Peralta district has had financial problems in recent years. Its most recent chancellor, Regina Standback Stroud, resigned in July after less than a year on the job. She and the district’s trustees had disagreements over various policies. It was while Garcia was at Skyline that she met her colleague Aaron McVean, who is presently the vice chancellor of educational services and planning for the San Mateo County Community College District. “Part of our story is she wasn’t sure what to make of me when she met me,” McVean, a straight ally, told the B.A.R. The two subsequently attended a conference for Hispanic Serving Institutions at UC Davis. “We were trying to understand the world of Hispanic Serving Institutions, and we were at lunch, and we sat at a table together talking about how we saw community college education, what we were hoping to achieve and what we’d focus on if we had our way,” he said. “We talked about being purposeful and intentional about having students complete their degrees. See page 8 >>