A San Rafael school board member who brought forward a controversial resolution about young men’s needs apologized and expanded on his intent during Monday’s meeting.
San Rafael City Schools board vice president Mark Koerner said the tabled resolution he initially proposed for consideration aimed to address a concern raised by a public speaker, who during an April 15, 2024, meeting detailed the crisis of young men falling behind in school and the workforce.
“I thought it was important to address these concerns proactively,” Koerner said. “I thought good points were brought up, and it’s something that I felt was important as well.”
He cited challenges facing young men that include increased rates of suicide and declining graduation rates and workforce participation.
The language of Koerner’s resolution, called “Recognition of the Essential Role and Needs of Young Men in Society,” however, had raised hackles from some in the community.
The resolution in part contained the following:
“WHEREAS, the term ‘toxic masculinity’ often does not reflect the vast majority of men and can detract from constructive dialogues aimed at supporting and understanding the challenges and positive attributes of young men; and
“WHEREAS, language that implies young men need to be ‘fixed’ by women undermines mutual respect and equality and is not conducive to constructive discourse on gender dynamics in our society.”
While Koerner’s resolution was pulled from consideration hours before Monday’s meeting, several public speakers, including mothers of boys, addressed the item that evening with some calling into question the motive and others saying it seemed to blame women for the failures of men.
Morgan Agnew, president of the San Rafael Federation of Teachers union, called it profoundly disappointing that no teachers, administrators, counselors or other district staff were consulted before the resolution was brought forward. If they had been consulted, he noted, the board would have learned about the programs already in place to support young men in San Rafael.
“To be clear, SRFT absolutely values our young men, and we work tirelessly to ensure that all of our students get the support they need but supporting young men and recognizing systemic gender inequalities are not mutually exclusive,” Agnew said.
He further highlighted that data on the academic outcomes of San Rafael’s male students were notably absent from the resolution.
“What is also telling is the timing of this resolution. To propose a resolution in recognition of men in the middle of Women’s History Month and just two days after International Women’s Day is at best tone deaf,” Agnew added.
Koerner used his time during the meeting to address the main criticisms of the resolution, noting that he had last year raised the issue of challenges facing young men and had no intention of diminishing the achievements of women by bringing forward the resolution during March.
However, he acknowledged that the language regarding “toxic masculinity” in the resolution was not helpful.
“A better approach is to simply emphasize that a young man’s inherent nature is not negative but needs positive direction for the betterment of society,” Koerner said. “The resolution is not intended to detract from the progress of women. It is about recognizing the challenges facing young men and exploring how we can improve outcomes in our community together. … I do apologize that it caused such a stir.”