by Brayden Yee
On Tuesday, February 15th, San Franciscans voted to recall three Board of Education (BOE) members Alison Collins, Gabriela Lopez, and Faauuga Moliga from office. The board members will be replaced with appointees by Mayor London Breed, who will serve out the remainder of their term, which ends on November 8th.
The board has been at the center of attention after making controversial moves such as voting against hiring a reopening consultant at the beginning of the pandemic, renaming schools, and changing Lowell High’s admission system, all while the district faced a $125 million budget deficit and students not being in school.
Due to the slow reopening, SFUSD benefited far less from the American Rescue Plan, which would have provided more funding for SFUSD had schools opened sooner.
Lopez argued that long-term delays did not cause learning loss and that it was just a different learning experience for the children. The statement was not taken kindly by many SFUSD parents, who have seen their children struggle both academically and emotionally during virtual learning. Due to the long-term closure of schools, the district has experienced a decline in enrollments, prompting the $125 million budget hole.
The board then focused on renaming 44 district schools, arguing that all of their names were associated with slavery, racism, and other forms of oppression. The names included historical futures such as Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Paul Revere. The decision was criticized for failing to prioritize in-person learning and the nonsensical process used to determine which names to replace, a process that was often historically inaccurate.
Voters were also upset when the school board converted Lowell High School, one of the top-performing high schools in the nation, from merit-based to lottery-based admissions. Later that year, a judge ruled the board violated state law by failing to notify the public about meeting agendas, making the resolution invalid.
After the Lowell admissions change, people online found Alison Collin’s controversial 2016 tweets where she claimed that Asian Americans used “white supremacist thinking to assimilate and ‘get ahead’” and compared Asian Americans to slaves who benefited from working in their master’s house.
Many were left unsatisfied with her “apology” and demanded her resignation. Collins was subsequently stripped of her role of vice president, then sued the school district for $87 million, a case that was tossed out during the summer.
Supporters of the recall say that the school board failed to prioritize getting students back to in-person learning by playing politics during the pandemic. Among them are State Senator Scott Wiener, Mayor London Breed, and other local officials who endorsed the recall.
Opponents claim that the recall is a power grab, and a waste of money because all three members are up for reelection in November. They also argue that the recall is racist, due to the three members being people of color.
Questions have also been raised about the funding for the recall, with many alleging that the election was bought by millionaires in Silicon Valley who provided large donations for the pro-recall effort.
edited by William Cao and Vishal Krishnaiah
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