Should Assessing Parent Behaviors for Struggling Students Be Off-Limits?

In 2021, there was a radical transformation of the San Francisco Board of Education, led by Asian-American parents upset with race-obsessive educational policies: seeking to paint over a mural depicting the Founding Fathers, eliminating merit-based testing for the flagship high school, and proposing to combat racial-differential math outcomes by disallowing algebra from eight-grade curricula. In July, Ann Hsu, one of the new board members, said that it was challenging to educate black and brown students because of their “unstable family environments” and “lack of parental encouragement.”

The progressive community immediately condemned her comments as racist, with a number calling for her immediate resignation. Not surprisingly, Hsu issued an apology that included the following: “My statements reflected my own limited experiences and inherent biases. I made a mistake, and I am deeply sorry.”