San Francisco votes to recall 3 school board members


Voters in San Francisco easily recalled three school board members on Tuesday, in the city's first recall election since an unsuccessful attempt to oust the mayor, now-Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), in 1983. The successful recall campaign against school board President Gabriela López, Vice President Faauuga Moliga, and Commissioner Alison Collins was fueled by discontent over a number of issues, tied together by a sense the school board was not doing its job.
"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," said Mayor London Breed (D), who supported the recall effort. "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 will pick the three temporary replacements on the seven-member board.
School boards have become a top target of Republicans across the country, but the issues in heavily Democratic San Francisco were different. Yes, "anger at COVID-related school closings is part of it," David Weigel reports in The Washington Post. But there was also "annoyance with a campaign to paint over a Depression-era mural with outdated stereotypes" and another aborted effort to rename 44 schools over the perceived flaws of their namesakes, including Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Feinstein.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
San Francisco's Asian American community was especially galvanized by the school board's decision to replace merit-based admissions at the elite Lowell High School with a lottery system, which increased the share of Black and Latino students and cut the percentage of Asian American and white students. Collins had also come under fire for years-old tweets about Asian Americans she refused to take down.
Collins, Lopez, and Moliga had defended the board's moves, arguing that they had been elected to prioritize racial equity. And the heavily outspent opponents of the recall called it a distracting waste of time and money and said a successful effort would only embolden conservatives across the country.
"I hate to break it to them," former city supervisor and 2003 Green Party mayoral candidate Matt Gonzalez told Weigel, "but this is really more about incompetence than it is about how it fits into some ideological battle over school boards or textbooks or things like that."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
What happened to Air India Flight 171?
Today's Big Question Preliminary report reveals 'fundamental reason' why jet crashed, but questions remain about whether it was 'deliberate, accidental or if a technical fault was responsible'
-
Why the world's busiest shipping routes are under threat
The Explainer Political tensions, mega ships and global warming offer new challenges – and opportunities
-
Bangkok: the new 'international capital of fine dining'
The Week Recommends Six Bangkok restaurants rank among the world's best
-
Trump set to hit Canada with 35% tariffs
Speed Read The president accused Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney of failing to stop the cross-border flow of fentanyl
-
Mahmoud Khalil files $20M claim over ICE detention
Speed Read This is the 'first damages complaint' brought by an individual targeted by the Trump's administration's 'crackdown' on Gaza war protesters
-
Trump threatens Brazil with 50% tariffs
Speed Read He accused Brazil's current president of leading a 'witch hunt' against far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials
Speed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firings
speed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partners
Speed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'
Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling