A New Twist on the School Board Wars

Over the past year, I’ve seen so many school board meetings. Angry meetings. Meetings where parents were dragged out the door. Meetings where whole contingents of observers jeered and then sang “The Star-Spangled Banner.” But I’ve never seen a school board meeting quite like this. At a San Francisco school board meeting in January, held over Zoom, the president of the board kicked things off by saying, “We want to make sure you feel welcomed and heard, especially during a time when so much pain and hurt is persisting.”

The way she speaks here—with a...