As you would expect, the headline in the California media is the recall of three members of the seven-member school board, but there may be a lesson in another part of the California story relevant to Montgomery Public Schools here in Alabama. CBS News Reports:
The effort to rename 44 schools was part of a racial reckoning that critics said went too far. School board members said they focused on sites that honored public figures linked to racism, sexism and other injustices. On the list were names like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Feinstein, the trailblazing senator.
The renaming effort was criticized for historical inaccuracies and shoddy research but also for its timing in January 2021, when all city schools were shut down and students were struggling with online learning. The plan was ultimately scrapped.
(Full story HERE.)
Here in Montgomery, the board voted in July of 2020 to rename three schools with confederate-linked names. That means they could incur $75,000 in fines because of what I call the Kay Ivey Confederate Protection Law. (She bragged about signing it in a campaign ad) The names have not been changed so far.
There are people willing to help the board pay that fine, but the Alabama Legislature is considering bills increasing the penalty amount to $5,000 a day, in theory forever...and calls for imprisoning for as long as 20 years those who damage or deface a confederate monument. Those changes have not yet been voted on by the entire legislature, which is in session till April 25th.
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