Parents upset with a trio of school board members in the far-left city of San Francisco have successfully recalled them for focusing on ‘woke’ issues instead of prioritizing really important things like reopening schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
But of course, since San Fran is perhaps the most left-wing city in the country, Democrats are reportedly “divided” over the recall effort, though the city’s liberal mayor, London Breed, appears to be taking the side of parents.
According to Fox News:
Critics, including San Francisco Mayor London Breed, argued the members — school board President Gabriela López, Vice President Faauuga Moliga and Commissioner Alison Collins — pushed progressive politics rather than act in the best interest of children during the pandemic, and voters agreed, according to the San Francisco Department of Elections.
“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,” Breed said in a statement after the vote. “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.”
Breed, who as mayor is now responsible for naming three new board members before regulation elections are held in November, also praised parents, saying they “were fighting for what matters most — their children.”
What were parents upset about? Fox News notes that while those opposed to the recall described the effort as a waste of time and money, backers and parents who launched the recall in January 2021 said that the board members poorly laid out priorities, focusing on ‘wokeness’ like renaming 44 schools that had been named for many of our country’s historical figures (like Paul Revere and Abraham Lincoln) while being slow to reopen schools that they closed during the pandemic.
“The city of San Francisco has risen up and said this is not acceptable to put our kids last,” Siva Raj, a parent who helped launch the recall effort, said, according to Fox News. “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.”
“San Francisco residents recalled three members of the city’s school board Tuesday for what critics called misplaced priorities and putting progressive politics over the needs of children during the pandemic,” the AP reported.
“Voters overwhelmingly approved the recall in a special election, according to tallies by the San Francisco Department of Elections,” the AP noted.
Political strategist Greg Price posted a graphic of the recall vote which he pointed out wasn’t “even close.”
“San Francisco just voted to recall three progressive members of the city’s school board. It was not even close,” he wrote.
San Francisco just voted to recall three progressive members of the city’s school board.
It was not even close. pic.twitter.com/CR8xwxeBW9
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 16, 2022
Becker News reported that the recall was the first successful effort in San Francisco in almost 40 years, adding that an attempt to recall then-Mayor Dianne Feinstein in 1983 failed.
“While Democrats insist that their Covid policies are ‘keeping children safe,’ the overwhelming preponderance of evidence shows that they are pointless and inflicting psychological distress on children,” the outlet added.
In a statement on Wednesday, House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said San Fran parents were standing up to ensure their voices are heard.
“Over the past two years they have watched liberal school boards in their communities prioritize renaming schools over re-opening classrooms,” he said, according to the Daily Mail.
“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,” he added.
