By Matthew Irwin
Like many parents in the San Dieguito Union High School District, I am dismayed by the ongoing turmoil on the school board. For me, however, the issue is not the controversy itself — disagreement and even dissensus are essential to the democratic process — but rather the way Trustee Michael Allman often seems to be at the center, pouring gasoline on the fire.
As a parent with children in the district, a third-generation Irish American, and an ethnic studies educator, I call on parents in SDUHSD Area 4 to reject bad-faith rhetoric and reactionary decision-making by ousting Allman this November.
Over the past several months, SDUHSD community members and board trustees have met to discuss and implement the state’s new ethnic studies requirement (AB 101). During this time, Allman has demonstrated both ignorance of the subject and an unwillingness to learn, as well as a general lack of interest in educating community members or addressing their legitimate concerns.
His attempts to obstruct the adoption of an ethnic studies curriculum demonstrate that he is more interested in appeasing those who share his worldview than in ensuring students’ success.
This pattern extends back at least to his decisive role in forcing out the district’s former superintendent, Cheryl James-Ward, in 2022. In that instance, Allman demonstrated an inability to foster conversation, consensus, or trust within diverse socioeconomic communities. He is unqualified to make decisions that impact students’ ability to succeed as they face new social and economic challenges, such as those posed by AI.
In rejecting the first ethnic studies curricular unit on identity, Allman used pearl-clutching statements about students feeling guilty and catchwords like “wokeism” that, void of any actual content, merely signal his ideological perspective. It is not even clear what he means by “guilt” in terms of impact, except that it involves pressure students might feel to reflect on their circumstances in relation to others.
What reactionaries like Allman characterize as guilt or shame should instead be understood as cognitive dissonance — the process of encountering new ideas and histories and struggling to find a place for them.
If we stoke fear around race and ethnicity, as Allman does, students and parents will continue to react like deer in headlights whenever these topics arise. However, if we provide the words, tools, and models of behavior needed to articulate discomfort, curiosity, and enthusiasm, they will learn to discuss cultural differences confidently—embracing the diversity of valid and unique experiences without feeling neglected or threatened.
This approach would have been valuable two years ago when Dr. James-Ward made her now notorious comment about wealthy Chinese immigrants. Her remarks were abrupt and hurtful for Asian American families because they reminded them of the persistent stereotype of being “perpetually foreign” — despite their contributions and the many generations their families have been in the U.S. Of course, Asian Americans who arrived as refugees or asylum-seekers also felt hurt and dismissed by the conflation of their experiences with those of wealthy immigrants.
However, it was Allman who opened the discussion with racialized assumptions about student success, asking, “Do we know why Asians do so well in school?” Dr. James-Ward attempted to shift the conversation to the well-documented correlation between income disparities and academic achievement, which cuts across ethnic groups.
Her comments could have been an opportunity to move the conversation away from racial stereotypes toward the diverse needs and capacities of SDUHSD students. Instead, Allman stoked animosity among trustees and parents, leading to James-Ward’s swift removal. This kind of reactionary decision-making is unacceptable for someone in his position.
In the coming years, educators, parents, and trustees will need to address AI’s impacts on education, employment, and social life. These conversations will certainly involve questions about AI programs, expenditures, and regulations, but they must also address racial bias in technology, both in terms of access and representation.
Many of my current students are already worried that their hard work and sacrifices will not lead to jobs, and they have made impassioned arguments for regulating AI across industries. As an educator, I am also concerned about the effect AI has on their curiosity and critical thinking — some students seem to wonder, “If a machine can do the work well enough, what is the point of trying?”
Addressing these challenges requires an understanding of how different groups experience technology, as well as how these experiences build on existing disparities in income, education, housing, healthcare, and more. Ethnic studies is a tool the district can use to provide this understanding.
But Allman has already shown an unwillingness to grapple with unfamiliar ideas, let alone model a consensus-building process that unites disparate groups around complex issues.
We cannot afford to have these discussions influenced by a reactionary trustee more committed to obstructing state law than supporting student success. SDUHSD deserves trustees willing to think expansively and proactively about education.
Matthew Irwin is an SDUHSD parent and ethnic studies lecturer
3 comments
I’ll confess to being one of “those guys” who sits through each and every regular SDUHSD Board meeting from beginning to end. I do it so I can have first hand insight (rather than those who sit behind their keyboards anonymously posting about things they know nothing about.) I have also attended seminars to learn the history and purpose of Ethnic Studies. The Ethnic Studies classes, like any new class, goes through a rigorous process involving experts in the area, professional educators, the community and the School Board. The learned author of this article is pointing out the huge problem we have in all important decisions facing public education…people like Michael Allman. Allman makes no effort to learn. All of his effort is to make things worse. Kevin Sabellico is the kind of person with the inquisitive and open-minded personality we need to collaboratively do the best for our students. Jodie Williams for Area 2 has the same skills and experience. Bob Ayers, SDHS Class of 1977.
Kevin Sabellico is a lying grifter who is besties with Corrupt Catherine Blakespear. He isn’t fit for any office especially this one.
Ethnic studies is a joke, a $300 million joke pushed on us by leftwing extremists who come up with this instead of being concerned about student scores in what matters-gramnmar, math and science.
The ethnic studies course has already been panned as being anti-semitic, as the DEI forces that wrote it decided that any group that is successful or perceived as such is a colonizer and should feel guilty about their success.
This leftwing extremism needs to be ended, Sabellico will push it further.
Allman’s only goal is to proteect the children and he has my vote.
Time to educate yourself, Steve. A Stanford study shows that students assigned to an ethnic studies course had longer-term improvements in attendance and graduation rates. https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2021/09/research-finds-sustained-impact-ethnic-studies-class
Here’s what Thomas S. Dee, a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE) and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) had to say: “compelling and causally credible evidence on the power of this course to change students’ life trajectories.”
Here’s another study that shows evidence that ethnic studies coursework positively impacts learning in English, the sciences and social studies – and has an outsized impact on math scores. The curriculum also benefits all students across gender, racial and ethnic groups, as well as in special education, English language learners and other sectors.https://firstfocus.org/news/student-success-soars-after-ethnic-studies-new-research-finds/
If you’re on the side of students, you should support the Ethnic Studies curriculum. Allman wants to block it. He has never shown hardly any respect for students, let alone teachers.
Ronette