Monday, March 8, 2021
News + Politics The forgotten legacy of Keith Jackson
News + Politics

The forgotten legacy of Keith Jackson

He was the swing vote to keep a military recruitment program in the SF schools

By Marc Norton

-

Keith Jackson was the swing vote to save JROTC, a military recruitment program for teens

Keith Jackson, a former member of the San Francisco Board of Education who became a political fundraiser and fixer, is set to be sentenced Wednesday/24, after pleading guilty in federal court to being part of a racketeering conspiracy.  Federal prosecutors are asking for a 10-year prison sentence. Former State Senator Leland Yee, one of Jackson’s crime partners, is to be sentenced Wednesday as well.  Jackson is also facing additional bribery and money laundering charges as part of an investigation by District Attorney George Gascón.

Keith Jackson was the swing vote to save JROTC, a military recruitment program for teens
Keith Jackson was the swing vote to save JROTC, a military recruitment program for teens

This is not a pretty picture. It indelibly stains San Francisco politics with the aura of “pay-to-play” corruption.

Jackson’s attorneys in his federal court case are requesting mercy based on his history as a “dedicated activist with over two decades of community involvement.”  Oh yeah.

Jackson got his start in San Francisco politics when he was elected to the School Board in 1994.  He was only 30 years old.

During his campaign, Jackson had pledged to get rid of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) in San Francisco schools. JROTC was in the crosshairs in 1994 when a scandal erupted after several students were hurt during a JROTC hazing at Balboa High School.

JROTC cadets at Balboa had sent three members of the drill team through “ranks” four times, a form of punishment in which JROTC students were punched repeatedly on the upper arms and shoulders as they walked through a gauntlet of JROTC cadets. In this particular instance, the student commander personally assaulted one of the cadets after he had been sent through ranks.  A school board investigation further revealed that “for at least the last five years, ranks was a common means of student-to-student punishment in the JROTC program at Balboa.”

The Balboa incident only highlighted the belief among many that JROTC is primarily a military recruitment program that encourages a culture of violence, and has no place in our schools. Jackson, an army veteran, was no stranger to this culture.

In 1995, Board Member Dan Kelly introduced a resolution to end the JROTC program. Kelly had served time in federal prison during the Vietnam War as a draft resister. His resolution appeared to have the four votes necessary to pass, with the support of School Board Members Tom Ammiano, Steve Phillips and Jackson.

But at a dramatic school board meeting, Jackson folded. The meeting was packed with JROTC students, ironically chanting the anti-war mantra “Hell No, We Won’t Go!”  When it came time for the vote, Jackson switched sides. Kelly’s resolution lost by a 4-3 vote. Jackson provided the swing vote that saved JROTC. Ironically, the pro-JROTC school board majority included Jackson’s future partner-in-crime Leland Yee.

Jackson went on to bigger and better things. He only served one term on the School Board.  He then got a city job, after one of his political mentors, Willie Brown, was elected mayor, and subsequently parlayed his connections into a career as a “political consultant.” Years later, after Jackson was indicted, Brown told the media that he was “shocked” by the charges against him.

JROTC, of course, is still well ensconced in our schools, despite ongoing political battles and controversies, and despite the downfall of supporters Yee and Jackson.

And that is one of Keith Jackson’s legacies, in addition to his shattered reputation as a “dedicated activist” turned bribester.

 

Marc Norton’s website is www.MarcNorton.us.

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47 COMMENTS

  40. People are dying in the streets because of Keith Jackson? Have you any proof of this? I CAN prove people are dying on the streets due to the actions of our current City administration. Perhaps they should be arrested, tried, and imprisoned?

  42. Jackson resigned from the School Board early, allegedly so he could take a City job that he had no qualifications for. On his last night as a board member, he provided a swing vote for the For-profit Edison Charter School, which was his quid-pro-quo for the job. He also supported the corrupt attempts to sell District land under Nordstrom and the inexplicable purchase of a building on Grant Street to house a ‘school’ that another board member wanted as her legacy. He found out as soon as he was elected that there was profit to be had by doing the Superintendent’s bidding and by cozying up to contractors. He was disaster from day one.

  43. The JROTC is very popular in SF public schools, especially among Asian immigrants and their parents. Marc and the former BG staff thought these immigrants did not know the truth and tried to educate them on the ideologically pure and politically correct stance. They lost.

    I’m glad this issue has died down in recent years.

  44. @jthomas09 – You posit corruption as an abstraction to sneer at concern about it, but corruption has consequences. People are dying in the streets while the particular political machine that Jackson works for gilds its pockets instead of running the city for all its citizens.

  45. There is no such thing as a “country-club” Federal prison. There are Federal prison camps for ultra-low level offenders, but you have to be Martha Stewart or Leona Hemsley to go there. Most Federal prisons are retired military or public health buildings; not designed for long-term living. Most are also at 150% occupancy, with people sleeping in gyms and recreation areas. The food is the cheapest avaiable, and medical care approaches quackery. The worst part is being isolated from friends and family. Not allowing a person human contact for years is medieval and sadistic. So no, Club Fed is another urban myth.

  46. It is overkill, I’d agree, although these are federal convictions and so he will serve his time in a federal “country club” facility, like Leona Helmsley and Martha Stewart. They are a lot nicer than your average state facility.

    That said I agree that it is not clear how justice is served by this kind of sentence for a long-time public servant. Norton is kicking a man when he is down to further his own skewed ideological agenda and that really isn’t very attractive.

    And the last I checked, JROTC participation is purely voluntary.

  47. Corruption in politics? Who knew? I’ll sleep much better at night knowing this ruthless master criminal is going to be torturted for the next 10 years. There are murderers, rapists, and child-molesters who get shorter prison terms. What most people don’t realize (or don’t want to know) is that any prison sentence can be a death sentence. Locking a man in a cage like an animal, depriving him of all his relationships, and exposing him to actual psychopaths is cruel and unusual punishment. The punishment should fit the crime; in this case HELLA community service and restitution. What is going to be accomplished by spending $1 million to “incarcerate” him for the next 10 years?

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