S.F. middle school delays election results because winners not diverse enough - The Washington Post -

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/10/20/s-f-middle-school-delays-election-results-because-winners-not-diverse-enough/
*Very lengthy article, that will not copy. *

A civic lesson, that didn't teach children how elections are supposed to work ... or were intended to be ... but how things REALLY are.

We are so screwed.

"" 
On Oct. 6, Everett Middle School welcomed
a special visitor. As students cheered and
clapped, Chelsea Clinton walked across the
San Francisco academy’s wooden stage and
hugged Everett ’s mascot, a humongous
brown and white owl.
Clinton was at Everett to promote a book ,
but when she learned that the public school
was about to hold its first student council
election in several years , the former first
daughter couldn ’t help but chime in with
words of encouragement .
“I don’ t think anyone should ever rule out
politics as a way to make a difference,” she
said, according to ABC 7 .
If students were inspired, however, it didn ’t
last long .
When Everett held its election three days
later , its principal promptly refused to
release the results, saying she was
concerned that the winners were not diverse
enough.
While she would ultimately relent and
release the results, her decision spurred
anger among parents and kids who felt that
the principal was putting diversity ahead
of democracy . Critics compared her to a
dictator who scraps elections when
results don’ t go her way . It was the middle
school equivalent of hanging chads and a
near political crisis , only without a
Supreme Court to hear the case .
What was supposed to be a civics lesson had
quickly devolved into chaos .
“The whole school voted for those people , so
it is not like people rigged the game ,”
seventh- grader Sebastian Kaplan told KRON
4, who had run for class representative yet
had no clue a week later if he won. “ But in
a way, now it is kinda being rigged. ”
The controversy began as soon as the Oct. 9
election results rolled in . Everett’s 36 -year -
old principal , Lena Van Haren , was
disturbed by the lack of diversity among the
winners, according to the San Francisco
Chronicle .
The school sits in San Francisco ’ s Mission
District, a historically diverse neighborhood
that has recently struggled with both
gentrification and gang violence. Everett is
as much a melting pot as the community,
with 80 percent of its population comprised
of students of color. Only 20 percent of
students are white , Van Haren told KTVU.
The results of the election , however , gave
the principal pause .
Literally.
Students weren ’t exactly expecting real -time
streaming results, but they were surprised
not to learn who had won when they
showed up to school the following Monday .
By Wednesday, the situation was getting
weird.
On Thursday , nearly a week after the
election, Van Haren sent out an e- mail to
parents explaining her decision to
withhold the election results.
“This is complex, but as a parent and a
principal, I truly believe it behooves us to
be thoughtful about our next steps here so
that we can have a diverse student council
that is truly representative of all voices at
Everett,” she wrote, according to the
Chronicle . Van Haren then suggested the
school “ add positions ” to improve diversity,
KTVU reported .
And that ’s when the civics hit the fan.
Students who had run for office were left in
limbo, wondering if they had won or lost
and if it even mattered anymore . Parents
were equally confused. Eventually , that
confusion turned into annoyance , then
anger.
“I wanted to get more involved and change
some things ,” Kaplan , the seventh -grader
running for class representative, told KRON
4, practically quoting Chelsea Clinton
verbatim. “ I feel like it is disrespectful to all
the people who were running,” he said of
the strange silence over election results.
Parents turned to local media to claim that
political correctness had trumped common
sense — not to mention democracy .
“My criticism of the Everett administration
is their good intention got in the way of
their common sense,” parent Todd David
told the Chronicle . “It ’ s really, really
disturbing to me that withholding the
results somehow equals social justice or
equity. That is where I totally disconnect .
I’m like, ‘ Whoa. ’ ”
Others said that diversity is all fine and
good, but it should have been addressed
before the election , not afterward in an ad
hoc manner .
“That should have been something
[discussed ] prior to elections and prior to
the campaigning process ,” another Everett
parent, Bianca Gutierrez , told KTVU .
The irony that a middle school student
election had turned into a political
quagmire worthy of Congress wasn’ t lost on
anyone.
“If we can’t teach them the right way it ’ s
supposed to work, then we are really just
letting our kids down ,” Gutierrez said. “My
heart goes out to the kids because they’ re
confused still about the issue. ”""

Btw, its hilarious to me that after Chelsea Clinton visited, the school had a rigged election

And she, " Inspired the children "



Thanks, RebelArcher, for printing the article. I tried 9 times.

The words, "San Francisco", explains alot.

Diane Freakstein use to be the mayor.

San Francisco.... gentrification...

"Everett Middle School welcomed
a special visitor. As students cheered and
clapped, Chelsea Clinton walked across the
San Francisco academy's wooden stage and
hugged Everett ’s mascot, a humongous
brown and white owl. "

Bohemian Grove, California.
Worship of a giant owl.

Horrible rumors of human sacrifice, once a year & rumors that at least four American Presidents have belong to this group.
* Search it yourselves, or YouTube also.*

Why did you add Bohemian Grove? That's serious stuff in the Grove. You have to shake hands with the Devil to get in there.

Students voted. Fascist administrator didn't release the results. Students and parents protested. Fascist administrator relented.
That's democracy in action.

This was so bad... Welcome Chelsea Clinton let her give the speech on voting and etc...
Then because the election doesn't go the way the Principle thinks it should she holds the results.

Great lesson to teach our next generation...

liberals...

those underrepresented groups should just have their own councils , in spite of the imminent accusations that will surely follow about it being 'divisive' or 'discriminatory'

Now, you are thinking & talking like the 32 year old principal.

The middle school kids VOTED, whom THEY wanted. Obviously,none of them felt 'underrepresented', they just picked kids they like.

The principal's FEAR & her CONTROL issue of Utopian values (? ),
caused separation & discrimination, that perhaps did NOT exist at all with the children. But obviously existed in her mind, no matter if it was fear based or not ( like some parents may be angry at the results).

She was wrong.
She has done a lot of damage here, morally & as an educator. By projecting her fear & desires on to impressionable & innocent minds. She should be replaced.

More Balkanization?

and none of them ARE underrepresented, obviously, they have a council of students who REPRESENT THEM,,lol

but my statement was those who ARE underrepresented(those who had fewer who could vote due to their MINORITY in the school) can create their own councils which will represent THEM

whats hard or problematic about that?

let me give an example in case


say we have a school with a hundred students,, say that 80 percent are able bodied and 20 percent are not

even if ALL students voted,, but those 80 percent voted for other able bodied students in their 'circle' ,, the most the non able bodied could get was 20 percent,,, the odds are greatly in favor of able bodied students winning the council seats,,, leaving the non able bodied 'underrepresented'


what is the problem , after the 'student council' has been elected which represents that 80 percent majority that voted for them,,,of there being a 'disabled students council' to represent those who by default of not having the numbers,, didn't end up represented?

Typical of Bush/Clinton politics tho....

Welcome to the machine! And they call it "Education"!

simple you automatically assumed that the smaller group did not vote for the candidates from the larger group

Good Lord....looks like not just that San Fran middle school needs a civics class.
By your logic, a president elected with 52% of the vote only represents the 52% who voted for him....and the remaining 48% should have a different president.

and not at all surprised!