San Francisco school board members ousted in parental backlash

San Francisco voters have recalled three school board members who spurred a parental backlash for pursuing the renaming of schools and other progressive policy changes as classrooms remained empty during the coronavirus pandemic.

Initial returns Tuesday night showed that voters overwhelmingly voted “yes” to recall Alison Collins, Gabriela López and Faauuga Moliga, three of the board’s seven members — 79 percent voted to remove Collins, 75 percent to remove Lopez and 73 percent to remove Moliga. The early results were dramatic enough that backers quickly declared victory and Moliga acknowledged his apparent defeat.

The outcome in one of the nation’s most liberal cities signaled that education issues remain a potent motivator for voters two years into the coronavirus pandemic, with midterm and gubernatorial elections on the horizon.

“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 San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who supported the recall, in a statement. “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 get to appoint the three replacements to the school board.