Mirkarimi Shows Leadership in School Closure FightRandy Shawbyline‚ Jan. 17‚ 2006As recently as three weeks ago, the closure of additional District 5 schools was a done deal. But after two weeks of press conferences and organizing around the disparate racial impact of these closures, the entire closure plan on is hold. Chief credit for this turnaround goes to Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who has taken the lead in building a citywide coalition around the closure issue. Mirkarimi’s efforts on school closures and other issues have put him in the forefront of addressing two critical priorities that Mayor Newsom has claimed as his own: how to stop the exodus of families with children from San Francisco, and how to specifically reduce African-American displacement. But it is Mirkarimi, not Newsom, who has assembled the multi-racial, class diverse coalition necessary for progress. |