A San Francisco city leader is calling for a new school board member to resign over comments he called "racist."
Ann Hsu has apologized for remarks she made on a questionnaire about educating students in the Black and Brown community.
But San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Shamann Walton said Hsu’s remarks were disheartening.
“I think she should resign immediately,” said Walton. “I think they’re racist and stereotypical and quite frankly they were calculated.”
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Hsu made the comments in response to a candidate questionnaire – one asked how the school district can increase academic outcomes for the most marginalized students.
She said she had limited exposure, but added one of the biggest challenges is a lack of family support for those students. Unstable family environments caused by housing and food insecurity along with a lack of parental encouragement to focus on learning cause children to not be able to focus or value learning.
“Being on the board of education you have to care about all people’s children no matter what race they are no matter what ethnicity they are and her thoughts about Black and brown children and their families are very disheartening,” said Walton.
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Hsu offered an apology on social media and said her statement reflected limited experience and inherent biases.
She said she revised an answer to reflect a deeper understanding of the challenges facing some students.
“We have historically been very supportive of commissioner Hsu and her leadership. When this statement came out we were very disappointed by her uniformed and hurtful remarks,” said Cyn Wang of SF Parent Action.
Their questionnaire went to all candidates and after the response, they convened a meeting with families who told them they were hurt by the false narrative.
“We have since then convened another meeting yesterday with Black parent leaders and commissioner Hsu herself to help discuss how she plans to listen and learn and how she plans to commit to listen and learn and how she leans to show up,” said Wang.
She added that she thinks the apology helps, and the first step is acknowledging harm.
Hsu was one of three people appointed to replace board members who were recalled.
