3 members of the San Francisco School Board are facing a recall

3 members of the San Francisco School Board are facing a recall

Transcript¹

The three members are accused of prioritizing politics over quality of education. The recall is a test of how far to the left voters will go.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

San Francisco is often seen as one of the most liberal cities in the nation. But tomorrow, voters there will decide whether to recall three members of the school board for what their critics say is prioritizing progressive politics above the needs of children.

From member station KQED, Scott Shafer reports.

SCOTT SHAFER, BYLINE²: In the early months of the pandemic, San Francisco's school board spent hours discussing a controversial plan to strip the names off 44 schools. Included on the list were ones named for slave-owning president George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, due to his treatment of Native Americans. The topic was a gold mine for conservative outlets³ like Fox News.

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UNIDENTIFIED NEWSCASTER: Cancel culture may be common for some of the biggest names in American history as an advisory⁴ committee in San Francisco...

SHAFER: But it wasn't just conservatives who took issue with the school board's priorities. Mayor London Breed was also furious the board wasn't focused on reopening schools shuttered by the pandemic.

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LONDON BREED: I am upset. I am mad. I need them to get their act together. We shouldn't even be having a conversation about anything else.

SHAFER: Breed spoke⁵ for many parents frustrated⁶ that their kids were still struggling to learn on Zoom⁷. But to school board members like Alison Collins, prioritizing racial equity⁸ was exactly why they were elected.

ALISON COLLINS: We need to make celebration of Black history, Asian history, Latinx history - all of those histories should be celebrated⁹ in our curriculum.

SHAFER: The pandemic upended those priorities. After an uproar¹⁰, the school board voted unanimously to scrap¹¹ the renaming plan. But for some, the whole controversy¹² was the last straw, and a recall effort began with help from wealthy supporters of charter schools, which the San Francisco School Board has resisted.

MATT GONZALEZ: I think this particular recall is unique.

SHAFER: The recall also got support from San Francisco liberals, including Matt Gonzalez, a former city supervisor¹³ and Green Party member. He says it would be a mistake to portray¹⁴ the recall as a retreat from the city's liberal values.

GONZALEZ: I think it has specific reasons why it's happening. And I think it's a single point of unity¹⁵ between some of us on the left and some on the right.

SHAFER: The recall also has racial dimensions. All three board members facing removal are people of color. The city's Chinese community is actively¹⁶ engaged in the recall after the board suddenly voted to end a merit-based admission system for the city's most elite¹⁷ high school, where a majority of the students are Asian. The board replaced the merit system with a lottery¹⁸. One parent leader of the recall campaign, Ann Hsu, is angry at what she sees as the school board's misplaced priorities.

ANN HSU: I think all the things that they're trying to do, like renaming schools - these are all politics. They really don't have much to do with education.

SHAFER: The recall exposes differences in how the city's values should be implemented¹⁹, says political scientist Jason McDaniel of San Francisco State University.

JASON MCDANIEL: It's also, I think - does reflect some of the tensions within San Francisco liberalism and what it means to be liberal in San Francisco - agreed-upon values, values of equality, especially racial equality, but also some tensions over how to manifest those values.

SHAFER: But the recall is less about politics and more about competence²⁰, says San Francisco Mayor London Breed.

BREED: It does it a disservice to minimalize it and say that it's about, you know, liberal and progressive and all these various values. I mean, we need to start refocusing our efforts on making sure that people understand how important our children are and prioritizing that.

SHAFER: If any school board member is recalled, the mayor will name their replacements²¹.

For NPR News, I'm Scott Shafer in San Francisco.

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1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

8 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

9 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

10 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

11 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

12 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

13 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

14 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

15 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

16 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

17 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

18 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

19 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

20 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。

21 replacements   

n.代替( replacement的名词复数 )；替换的人[物]；替代品；归还

参考例句：

• They infiltrated behind the lines so as to annoy the emery replacements. 他们渗透敌后以便骚扰敌军的调度。 来自辞典例句
• For oil replacements, cheap suddenly looks less of a problem. 对于石油的替代品来说，价格变得无足轻重了。 来自互联网