The company that created ChatGPT was thrown into turmoil Monday after Microsoft hired its ousted CEO and many employees threatened to follow him in a conflict that centered in part on how to build artificial intelligence that’s smarter than humans.

The developments followed a weekend of drama that shocked the AI field and fueled speculation about the future of OpenAI, which named a new chief executive on Friday and then replaced her on Sunday. The newest CEO vowed to investigate the firing of co-founder and CEO Sam Altman, who’s been instrumental in OpenAI’s transformation from a nonprofit research laboratory into a world-renowned commercial startup that inaugurated the era of generative artificial intelligence.

Microsoft, which has been a close partner of the company and invested billions of dollars in it, announced that Altman and OpenAI’s former president, Greg Brockman, would lead its new advanced AI research team. Brockman, also an OpenAI co-founder, quit in protest after Altman was fired.

Hundreds of OpenAI employees, including other top executives, threatened to join them at Microsoft in an open letter addressed to OpenAI’s four-member board that called for the board’s resignation and Altman’s return.

“If the architects and vision and brains behind these products have now left, the company will be a shell of what it once was,” said Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell University’s Tech Policy Institute. “All of that brain trust going to Microsoft will then mean that these impressive tools will be coming out of Microsoft. It will be hard to see OpenAI continue to thrive as a company.”

File – Sam Altman participates in a discussion during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit, Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, in San Francisco. The board of ChatGPT-maker Open AI says it has pushed out Altman, its co-founder and CEO, and replaced him with an interim CEO. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Eric Risberg

FILE – Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella speaks on Nov. 15, 2023, in San Francisco. Despite a rift between the key players behind ChatGPT and the company they helped build, both former Twitch leader Emmet Shear and Nadella said they are committed to a partnership. Microsoft snapped up Sam Altman and another architect of ChatGPT maker OpenAI for a new venture after their sudden departures shocked the artificial intelligence world. It’s also left OpenAI’s new CEO to paper over tensions by vowing to investigate Altman’s firing. The developments come Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 after a weekend of drama and speculation about how the power dynamics would shake out at OpenAI. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, file)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Eric Risberg

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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that he was “extremely excited” to bring on the pair and looked “forward to getting to know” the new management team at OpenAI.

Altman later said on X that his top priority with Nadella is to ensure that OpenAI “continues to thrive” and that it is committed to “fully providing continuity of operations to our partners and customers.”

OpenAI said Friday that Altman was pushed out after a review found he was “not consistently candid in his communications” with the board of directors, which had lost confidence in his ability to lead the company.

In an X post Monday, OpenAI’s new interim chief executive, Emmett Shear, said he would hire an independent investigator to look into Altman’s ouster and write a report within 30 days.

“It’s clear that the process and communications around Sam’s removal” were handled “very badly,” wrote Shear, who co-founded Twitch, an Amazon-owned livestreaming service popular with video gamers.

He said he also plans in the next month to “reform the management and leadership team in light of recent departures.” After that, Shear said, he would “drive changes in the organization,” including “significant governance changes if necessary.”

Originally started as a nonprofit, and still governed as one, OpenAI’s stated mission is to safely build AI that is “generally smarter than humans.” Debates have swirled around that goal and whether it conflicts with the company’s increasing commercial success.

The reason behind the board’s removal of Altman was not a “specific disagreement on safety,” nor does the board oppose commercialization of AI models, Shear said.

OpenAI last week declined to answer questions about Altman’s alleged lack of candor. The company’s statement said his behavior was hindering the board’s ability to exercise its responsibilities.

A key driver of the shakeup, OpenAI’s co-founder, chief scientist and board member Ilya Sutskever, expressed regrets for his participation in the ouster.

“I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we’ve built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company,” he said Monday on X.

The open letter began circulating Monday. According to a copy obtained by The Associated Press, the number of signatures amounted to a majority of the company’s 770 employees. The AP was not able to independently confirm that all of the signatures were from OpenAI employees.

“Everyone at @OpenAI is united,” one of the signatories, research scientist Noam Brown, said on X. “This is not a civil war. Unless Sam and Greg are brought back, there will be no OpenAI left to govern.”

The letter alleged that after Altman’s firing, the company’s remaining executive team had recommended that the board resign and be replaced with a “qualified board” that could stabilize the company. But the board resisted and said allowing OpenAI to be destroyed would be consistent with its mission, according to the letter.

OpenAI has said since its 2015 founding that its goal is to advance AI in a way that benefits all humanity.

A company spokesperson confirmed that the board received the letter.

Microsoft declined to comment on the letter.

After Altman was pushed out, he stirred speculation about coming back into the fold in a series of tweets. He posted a selfie with an OpenAI guest pass Sunday, saying this is “first and last time i ever wear one of these.”

Hours earlier, he tweeted, “i love the openai team so much,” which drew heart replies from Brockman and Mira Murati, OpenAI’s chief technology officer who was initially named as interim CEO.

It’s not clear what transpired between the announcement of Murati’s interim role Friday and Shear’s hiring, though she was among several employees Monday who tweeted, “OpenAI is nothing without its people.” Altman replied to many with heart emojis.

The board consists of Sutskever, Quora CEO Adam D’Angelo, tech entrepreneur Tasha McCauley and Helen Toner of the Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology. None of them responded to calls or emails seeking comment. Because of its nonprofit structure, the board differs from most startup boards that are typically led by investors.

Altman helped catapult ChatGPT to global fame based on its ability to respond to questions and produce human-like passages of text in a seemingly natural way.

In the past year, he has become Silicon Valley’s most in-demand voice on the promise and potential dangers of artificial intelligence.

Earlier this year, he went on a world tour to meet with government officials, drawing big crowds at public events as he discussed the risks of AI and attempts to regulate the emerging technology.

But as money poured into OpenAI this year, helping to advance its development of more capable AI, it also brought more conflict around whether that fast pace of commercialization fit with the startup’s founding vision, said Kreps, the Cornell University professor. But rather than slow that pace, Altman’s ouster may simply shift it out of OpenAI.

Altman “really has a walk-on-water aura, and I think a lot of it is well deserved,” Kreps said. “He’s the one who has attracted the investment, and he’ll do that wherever it is.”

Microsoft’s shares rose 2% on Monday and hit an all-time high.

The AP and OpenAI have a licensing and technology agreement allowing OpenAI access to part of the AP’s text archives.

___

Associated Press writers Brian P. D. Hannon in Bangkok and Haleluya Hadero in New York contributed to this report.

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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It has been nearly a year since San Francisco voters unseated their liberal District Attorney Chesa Boudin in an election as public frustration over property crime and the visible desperation and misery on the city’s streets mounted.

There was no compelling evidence that Boudin’s policies had made crime worse; Overall, crime in San Francisco changed little during his tenure. But voters rejected his progressive message of forbearance.

Boudin, who has largely remained silent since being recalled, is taking on a new role this week: as founding executive director of the new Criminal Law and Justice Center at UC Berkeley School of Law. Responsibilities are broad and include teaching, researching the impact of changes in California criminal laws, and advocating new laws at the State Capitol and in court.

“It’s a job that allows me to draw on the lived experience I’ve had from visiting my parents in prison for a combined 63 years and the real-world work experience I’ve gained both as a public defender and as an elected district attorney in San Francisco have collected,” Boudin said. When he was a toddler, his parents, members of a radical left-wing group, were jailed for their part in a botched robbery that killed three men.

As he begins his new job, Boudin, 42, reflects on the past year, his tenure and the ongoing struggle for public safety in San Francisco.

Debates over crime, the fentanyl epidemic and homelessness have been rather contentious since he left office. City leaders have promised more aggressive enforcement; One proposal would exclude undocumented immigrants convicted of distributing fentanyl from protection under the city’s sanctuary policy, making it easier for them to be deported.

“I absolutely disagree with scapegoating or attacking immigrants for what are clearly entrenched structural inequalities and a public health crisis,” Boudin said. “It never worked and was often a red flag for fascism. Scapegoating immigrants is not what we do in San Francisco, and it will not make us any safer.”

Regarding the fatal shooting of Banko Brown by a security guard at a downtown drugstore last month, Boudin delivered harsh words to his successor, Brooke Jenkins, who declined to press charges in the case. Her handling of the case sparked protests, particularly over her public statements early in the investigation that the case appeared to be in self-defense.

“Any seasoned prosecutor knows, and Jenkins should have known full well, that while a case is still under investigation, at least not supposedly, you don’t speak up and represent the defense,” he said.

Boudin defended his decision to charge two police officers with on-duty shootings — charges Jenkins later dropped and which he said were politically motivated.

“I campaigned on this issue,” Boudin said of police shootings. “It wasn’t political. That’s what voters wanted.”

In his new job, Boudin could return to the courtroom as a lawyer on a range of issues, including overhauling bail laws.

“It’s a subject I’ve worked on for many, many years,” he said. “I firmly believe that being poor is not a crime in this country. And that we have a presumption of innocence. And that people who are presumed innocent should not be imprisoned just because they are poor.”

When asked if he would ever run for office again, he simply replied, “Never say never.”

Tim Arango is a Correspondent for the National Desk and lives in Los Angeles.

When you read a story, make it this one

Guests are fed up with minimal service. Will a little warmth win her back?

where we travel

Today’s tip comes from John Merkler, who recommends coastal parks in San Diego:

“Together, Torrey Pines State Beach and Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve is one of the most sublime spots in Southern California and one of the top 10 in the state.

The beach and adjacent cliff is not just a geological fantasy with a rich history; They are a natural wonder and a never-ending source of relaxation, pleasure and often entertainment. It is an inspiration that never ceases to surprise and delight.”

Tell us about your favorite places in California. Email your suggestions to CAtoday@nytimes.com. We will report more about this in future issues of the newsletter.

And before you go, some good news

Call it postmodern love.

Joseph Bartlett Fay and Daniel Wayne Garness first met in person at an architectural landmark – now known as the Burns House – designed by Charles Moore, the postmodern architect, on a hilltop in the Santa Monica Canyon.

“Dan is a residential and landscape architect,” Fay said. “I’m an architecture enthusiast.”

Fast forward 11 years. Fay, 68, and Garness, 70, were married this month in a small ceremony attended by some of their loved ones.

“A good home is a snapshot of the world,” Garness told the New York Times. “Equal parts protection and dreams. Marriage is maybe a bit like that too.”

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Three woke San Francisco school board members who invested more time on social justice issues – like the botched renaming of 44 schools – instead of reopening them during the pandemic have been ousted in a rare recall election funded largely in part by Silicon Valley billionaires and millionaires. 

In a hot-button election, 70% of parents in the liberal city voted to recall the board members on Tuesday, according to the San Francisco Department of Elections.  

The school board has seven members, all Democrats, but only three were eligible to be recalled: school board President Gabriela López, Vice President Faauuga Moliga and Commissioner Alison Collins. 

The effort was well-funded by some of Silicon Valley’s billionaires and millionaires, led by early Apple investor Arthur Rock, who poured more than $500,000 of his billion-dollar fortune into the recall. PayPal CEO David Sacks – who has three children and opposes mask mandates and school closures – donated $75,000, and venture capitalist Garry Tan donated $26,000.

Among parents’ main frustrations were that the school board failed to address reopening schools during the pandemic, and instead focused their efforts on renaming 44 because they claimed they were named after ‘problematic’ American icons, like Paul Revere and Abraham Lincoln. 

But committee members embarrassed themselves after it was revealed they did not consult historians and used inaccurate Wikipedia entries and other non-scholarly sources to determine which personalities were racist and problematic. 

‘The city of San Francisco has risen up and said this is not acceptable to put our kids last,’ said Siva Raj, a parent who helped launch the recall effort. 

‘Talk is not going to educate our children, it’s action. It’s not about symbolic action, it’s not about changing the name on a school, it is about helping kids inside the school building read and learn math.’

The school board also scrapped merit-based competitive admissions at elite $42,000-a-year Lowell High School, which disadvantaged Asian American students.  

San Francisco Mayor London Breed is now tasked with appointing replacements to the board – who will also likely be Democrats.   

‘The voters of this city have delivered a clear message that the school board must focus on the essentials of delivering a well-run school system above all else,’ Mayor London Breed, who supported the recall, said in a statement. ‘San Francisco is a city that believes in the value of big ideas, but those ideas must be built on the foundation of a government that does the essentials well.’

The election was the first recall in San Francisco since 1983, since a failed attempt to remove then-Mayor Dianne Feinstein after she passed a handgun ban.

San Francisco School Board Commissioner Alison Collins was voted out during Tuesday’s recall election 

School Board President Gabriela López (left) and Vice President Faauuga Moliga (right), both Democrats, were ousted by parents angered over their prioritizing of progressive initiatives over school reopening  

Sarah Stettler, Jennie Lucas, and Elisa Smith cheer as they celebrate at the pro-recall party at Manny’s restaurant on Tuesday

David Thompson (left) poses for a selfie with his son Lucas Tamayo-Thompson and friend Leanna Louie (right) as they celebrate the board members’ recall on Tuesday in San Francsico

Billionaire and early Apple investor Arthur Rock, 95, poured more than $500,000 into the San Francisco school board recall campaign 

Silicon Valley millionaire investors David Sacks (left) and Garry Tan (right) contributed $75,000 and $26,000, respectively, to help oust the three board members 

Opponents called the recall a waste of time and money, as the district faces a number of challenges including a $125 million budget deficit and the need to replace retiring Superintendent Vincent Matthews.

But parents in the politically liberal city launched the recall effort in January 2021 out of frustration over the slow reopening of district schools, while the board pursued the renaming of 44 school sites and the elimination of merit-based competitive admissions at the elite $42,000-a-year Lowell High School.

The campaign to recall the three school board members attracted major donations from Rock, the 95-year-old billionaire who was an early investor in Intel and Apple; as well as Sacks and Tan. 

Rock, who has an estimated net worth of $1.1billion, has given nearly $400,000 directly to two recall committees, and an additional $150,000 to two political action committees supporting the effort, reported The Daily Beast.

ERRORS MADE BY THE SAN FRANCISCO SCHOOL RENAMING COMMITTEE:  

Committee members allegedly used references from Wikipedia and other non-scholarly sources to determine which personalities were racist and problematic. 

Several of those citations has now been proven to be factually incorrect: 

1. One committee member urged that the name of acclaimed American poet James Russell Lowell should be stripped off a high school because a Wikipedia citation stated that he did ‘not want black people to vote’.  

However, that claim is false – and scholarly articles assert that Lowell ‘unequivocally advocated giving the ballot to the recently freed slave’.

2. The committee concluded that Paul Revere’s name should be removed from a middle school after citing an article from the History Channel website. 

Members alleged that Revere’s military activities were tied to ‘the conquest of the Penobscot Indians’, which was untrue. 

3. James Lick – who resided in San Francisco – was also deemed ‘racist’ after members failed to critically read an article about the famous 19th century businessman. 

The committee stated that Lick had funded a sculpture showing an American Indian lying at the feet of white men. 

However, in actuality, Lick died 18 years before the sculpture was created, and it was only partially funded by his posthumous estate. 

Public records indicate that during the 1980s and 1990s, Rock donated money mainly to Republican candidates and causes, but over the past three decades he has emerged as a major Democratic donor, including to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. 

A major proponent of charter schools, Rock has poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into school board elections in districts from coast to coast, including Los Angeles, Minnesota, New Mexico, Georgia and New York, reported Mission Local.

Additionally, Rock has donated some $12million to charter schools and organizations that promote charter schools all over the country. In San Francisco, the school board has been hostile to the proliferation of charter schools. Opponents of charter schools believe that charters draw the top students from regular public schools, leaving behind the most vulnerable students to be educated, with fewer resources, and reducing the overall quality of public education.  

The second-highest donor to the recall effort in San Francisco is David Sacks, the founding COO of PayPal and general partner at his venture capital fund, Craft Ventures, who contributed $75,000 to push out the three school board members, after bankrolling a failed effort to recall Gov Gavin Newsom. 

Sacks, who has been vocal about his opposition to school closures and mask mandates, tweeted after the vote on Tuesday: ‘Every child deserves a high-quality education. School boards and administrators work for parents and students, not the other way round. Competence matters more than ideology. That’s what San Francisco voters affirmed tonight.’

Garry Tan, co-founder of Initialized Capital, contributed just over $25,000 to the recall effort. Tan began donating to local elections last year, pouring $50,000 into a campaign to recall the ultra-progressive San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who has been widely criticized as being soft-on-crime. 

The mayor, one of the most prominent endorsers of the recall, praised the parents, saying they ‘were fighting for what matters most – their children.’ 

Several of controversial tweets penned by Collins in December 2016 targeting Asian-Americans are pictured 

Siva Raj, a father-of-two tech entrepreneur, helped launch the recall effort alongside his partner Autumn Looijen (pictured together)

The pressures of the pandemic and distance learning have made school board races a hot-button topic as frustrations over pandemic measures reach a boiling point. 

In a statement on Wednesday, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said that San Francisco parents were standing up to have their voices heard. 

‘Over the past two years they have watched liberal school boards in their communities prioritize renaming schools over re-opening classrooms,’ he said. ‘School boards have used ‘equity’ and ‘social justice’ as an excuse to discriminate and lower standards for children. This is exactly what the San Francisco school board did and why three of their members were recalled in a landslide.’ 

Many commenters on Twitter greeted the news of the recall with glee, mixed with disbelief. 

‘There is hope for #California yet! Mindblowing that this is in #SanFrancisco!’ tweeted one user. ‘The recall votes were not even close. This was a powerful statement!’

Another weighed in: ‘DANG I AM SO HAPPY ABOUT THIS!! SUPER PROUD of California right now….and that is NOT a sentence I ever thought would be coming out of my mouth!’

In San Francisco, one of the nation’s most liberal cities, the recall effort split Democrats. Breed, a Democrat, had criticized the school board for being distracted by ‘political agendas.’

The ousted board members – Collins, Lopez and Moliga – had defended their records, saying they prioritized racial equity because that was what they were elected to do.

Both sides agreed that San Francisco’s school board and the city itself had embarrassed itself under the national spotlight.  

One of the first issues to grab national attention was the board’s January 2021 decision to rename 44 schools they said honored public figures linked to racism, sexism and other injustices. On the list were Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and trailblazing US Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat.

Instead of consulting historians to inform their decisions, the committee members used inaccurate Wikipedia entries to justify renaming the schools.

Several citations used in the debate have now been proven to be factually incorrect, including a false claim that American poet James Russell Lowell did not want black people to vote and that Paul Revere’s military activities were tied to ‘the conquest of the Penobscot Indians’. 

Activist and first-grade teacher Jeremiah Jeffries, who led the committee, is said to have ‘ridiculed’ a proposal to bring in historians for consultation.

Jeffries reportedly stated: ‘What would be the point? History is written and documented pretty well across the board. And so, we don’t need to belabor history in that regard. We’re not debating that. There’s no point in debating history in that regard. Either it happened or it didn’t.’

He added: ‘Based on our criteria, it’s a very straightforward conversation. And so, no need to bring historians forward to say – they either pontificate and list a bunch of reasons why, or [say] they had great qualities. Neither are necessary in this discussion.’ 

The effort drew swift criticism and critics said it made a mockery of the country’s racial reckoning. Angry parents asked why the board would waste time renaming schools when the priority needed to be reopening classrooms.

One of the first issues to grab national attention was the board’s January 2021 decision to rename 44 schools they said honored public figures linked to racism, sexism and other injustices. On the list were Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and trailblazing U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein . Instead of consulting historians to inform their decisions, the committee members used inaccurate Wikipedia entries to justify renaming the schools. Activist and first-grade teacher Jeremiah Jeffries (pictured), who led the committee, is said to have ‘ridiculed’ a proposal to bring in historians for consultation

The school board’s plan to scrap merit-based admissions at the elite Lowell High School, where most students are Asian, drew ire from local parents

After an uproar, the school board scrapped the plan.

Collins came under fire again for tweets she wrote in 2016 that were widely criticized as racist. In them Collins, who is black, said Asian Americans used ‘white supremacist’ thinking to get ahead and were racist toward black students.

Racism against Asian Americans has come under a renewed focus since reports of attacks and discrimination escalated with the spread of the coronavirus, which first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China.

Collins said the tweets were taken out of context and posted before she held her school board position. She refused to take them down or apologize for the wording and ignored calls to resign from parents, Breed and other public officials.

Collins turned around and sued the district and her colleagues for $87million, fueling yet another pandemic sideshow. The suit was later dismissed.

Moliga (far right) canvassed with Dr. Ponipate Rokolekutu, left, and Gaynor Siataga, right, before polls closed on Tuesday

Many Asian parents were already angered by the board’s efforts to end merit-based admissions at the elite Lowell High School, where Asian students are the majority.

As a result, many Asian American residents were motivated to vote for the first time in a municipal election. The grassroots Chinese/API Voter Outreach Task Force, which formed in mid-December, said it registered 560 new Asian American voters.

Ann Hsu, a mother of two who helped found the task force, said many Chinese voters saw the effort to change the Lowell admissions system as a direct attack.

‘It is so blatantly discriminatory against Asians,’ she said. In the city’s Chinese community, Lowell is viewed as a path children can take to success.

SAN FRANCISCO SCHOOL BOARD VOTES TO RENAME 44 SCHOOLS OVER ‘DISHONOROABLE LEGACIES’ OF NAMESAKES: 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN:  U.S. president targeted for his treatment of indigneous people, Abraham Lincoln High School. 

GEORGE WASHINGTON: The first U.S. president and a slave owner, George Washington High School. 

VASCO NUNEZ DE BALBOA: A Spanish explorer targeted by the board over colonization and abuses of indigenous people, Balboa High School.  

MISSION DOLORES: The 7th mission founded by Spanish settlers in their quest to colonize and evangelize the native peoples of California, Mission High School. 

JAMES R. LOWELL:  While initially involved in the movement to abolish slavery, the poet’s support wavered over the years, Lowell High School.  

JAMES DENMAN: Founder of first S.F. school and first superintendent, a racist leader who denied Chinese students a public education, James Denman Middle School.  

EDWARD EVERETT: An American statesman who a speech in 1826 in which he appeared to endorse slavery, despite his arguments that he rejected the slave trade and the act of kidnapping someone into slavery, Everett Middle School. 

HERBERT HOOVER: U.S. president: African-American leaders condemned various aspects of the Hoover administration, including his unwillingness to push for a federal anti-lynching law, Herbert Hoover Middle School. 

JAMES LICK: A land baron whose estate funded the controversial ‘Early Days’ statue depicting Native Americans in a demeaning manner, James Lick Middle School. 

PRESIDIO: S.F. military post estalished in 1776 as Spain’s northern-most outpost of colonial power, Presidio Middle School. 

THEODORE OR F.D. ROSSEVELT: Both U.S. Presidents. Teddy Roosevelt held Racist attitudes toward Cubans, Puerto Ricans and Filipinos during the Spanish-American War; F.D received heavy criticism for his internment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War, Roosevelt Middle School. 

HENRY WARE LAWTON: An officer in the U.S. Civil War, Lawton K-8

CLAIRE LILIENTHAL: A S.F. school board member, two school sites

PAUL REVERE: A Patriot in the American Revolution, Paul Revere K-8

ALAMO: A poplar tree or the site of Texas Revolution battle, Alamo Elementary

PEDRO DE ALVARADO: A conquistador, Alvarado Elementary,

EDWIN BRYANT: The author penned editorials supporting the anti-Catholic nativism movement and a series of racist attacks on Vice President Richard Mentor Johnson for his black common law wife and two mixed race daughters, Bryan Elementary

EDWARD HYDE: The English politician and Earl of Clarendon, Clarendon Elementary Second Community and Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program

EL DORADO: Mythical City of Gold, El Dorado Elementary 

DIANNE FEINSTEIN: The US Senator replaced a Condererate Flag at City Hall while the Mayor of San Francisco in 1984, Dianne Feinstein Elementary

JAMES GARFIELD: US President, Garfield Elementary

WILLIAM HENRY GRATTAN : An Irish author regarded as controversial due to the inaccuracy of some of his work, Grattan Elementary

THOMAS JEFFERSON: U.S. president and a slave owner, Jefferson Elementary

FRANCIS SCOTT KEY: Composer of ‘Star Spangled Banner’, Francis Scott Key Elementary

FRANK MCCOPPIN: San Francisco Mayor, Frank McCoppin Elementary

WILLIAM MCKINLEY: US President, McKinley’s expansionist policies are now widely viewed as racist toward indigenous people, McKinley Elementary 

JAMES WILSON MARSHALL: Sawmill worker at Sutter’s Mill, who reported the finding of gold at Coloma on the American River in California on January 24, 1848, sparking the California Gold Rush, Marshall Elementary 

JAMES MONROE: US President and slave owner, Monroe Elementary

JOHN MUIR: The naturalist made comments that invoked racist stereotypes made toward black people, John Muir Elementary

JOSE ORTEGA: A Spanish colonizer, Jose Ortega Elementary

JOSE BERNARDO SANCHEZ: A Spanish missionary, Sanchez Elementary 

JUNIPERO SERRA: Elementary, Spanish priest to be renamed due to colonization and abuses of indigenous people Serra Elementary

GEN. PHILIP SHERIDAN: A Union General in the American Civil War, Sheridan Elementary

GEN. WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN: According to some reports, Sherman did not believe in equality between white and black people despite being a genera in the Northern Army during the Civil War, Sherman Elementary

JOHN SLOAT:  Navy officer and a colonizer who ‘claimed/stole’ California from Mexico, Commodore Sloat Elementary

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON: Author, Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary  

ADOLPH SUTRO: S.F. mayor accused of discriminating against black people in the 19th century who wanted to visit the baths named after him, Sutro Elementary

DON ANTONIO DE ULLOA: Spanish General and the the first Spanish governor of Louisiana, Ulloa Elementary 

DANIEL WEBSTER: U.S. Statesman who urged northerners to respect slavery in the South and to assist in the return of fugitive slaves to their owners, Daniel Webster Elementary

NORIEGA: Unclear, Noriega Early Education School

PRESIDIO: San Francisco Military Post formerly established by the Spanish, Presidio EES

ROBERT F STOCKTON: Navy Commodore who captured California during the Mexican–American War, Stockton EES  

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