The Palo Alto Educator’s Association, the teacher’s union for the city’s public school district, issued a statement this afternoon condemning Palo Alto school board member Rowena Chiu and revoking its endorsement of her. 

The statement followed an emergency meeting of the organization’s representative council last night. The meeting was called to discuss the group’s public reaction to the recent controversy surrounding Chiu’s reposting on Monday of a social media post regarding comments at last week’s board meeting on requiring Ethnic Studies as a graduation requirement. The post contained racist and threatening comments toward district employee Danae Reynolds. A group of former Palo Alto school board trustees issued a letter Thursday criticizing Chiu’s online behavior and the Palo Alto Management Association  called for her resignation from the school board.

The PAEA statement pointed to Chiu’s recent engagement with the post on social media.

“Ms. Chiu’s decision to associate herself with racist comments against a PAUSD staff member on a social media platform establishes an alarming and dangerous precedent,” the statement said. “We categorically condemn this post and all hate speech.”

The PAEA endorsed Rowena Chiu in the 2024 school board election.

According to a PAEA member speaking on condition of confidentiality, the private PAEA meeting last night asked union site representatives to vote on a PAEA general statement.

“There was a draft statement presented to us,” the members said. “The members made a motion that passed, which amended the draft to include a statement revoking an endorsement of Chiu.”

The PAEA statement called for a reflection on the events of the past week.

“As educators, we strongly believe people can learn and evolve through courageous conversations,” Chiu said. “As such, we formally request that Trustee Chiu and all PAUSD Board Members engage in a structured, third-party discussion with an impartial subcontracted mediator to examine actions based on Board Policies, advise trustees on their roles, and look at the effects of their behavior in public and private spheres.”