Vote YES to Recall the School Board

and then vote YES to recall López, Collins, & Moliga

Endorsement: Competence matters, even for progressives. Vote yes to recall López, Collins and Moliga
‍SF Chronicle | Jan 23
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Students suffered immensely from these decisions, particularly students of color. The very educational equity gaps that all three board members were elected by their constituents to overcome have grown markedly worse as a result of their actions.
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He’s a public defender and legendary S.F. progressive. Here’s why he backs the school board recall
SF Chronicle | Jan 29
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[Matt Gonzalez] called his decision to back the recall “easy” and said there’s nothing contradictory about progressives with true San Francisco values supporting the recall.

“This whole idea it’s a Republican-backed thing, I think that shows a lack of political maturity to make that argument,” he said.
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Endorsement: San Francisco’s school board is a national laughingstock. Yes on the recall
‍San Francisco Examiner | Jan 28
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Unfortunately, the three commissioners facing recall still don’t grasp why their actions provoked this recall. This lack of remorse and self-reflection makes it clear why parents are so fed up. Despite claims to the contrary, the recall campaign began as a grassroots effort by parents who felt the need to demand better for their children.
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Editorial: SF school board: Recall all 3
Bay Area Reporter | Jan 12
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We recommend that all three be removed. Collins, in particular, has displayed zero integrity, starting with her refusal to apologize for racist tweets she wrote before being elected.
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S.F. school board cuts classroom, administrative spending in bid to avoid state takeover
SF Chronicle | Dec 14

Over the past year, the school board focused efforts on a wide range of issues that increased spending and occupied staff time, including an effort to rename 44 school sites, which the board approved and rescinded. Deputy Superintendent Myong Leigh, who oversees the district’s budgeting process, spent months staffing the renaming committee appointed by the board.

In addition, state officials notified the board when appointing the fiscal expert that the board ignored the
urgency of the budget shortfall a year ago and chose to take no action.
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Mayor Breed backs recall of three San Francisco school board members: 'Our kids must come first'
SF Chronicle | Nov 9

“Sadly, our school board’s priorities have often been severely misplaced,” Breed said in a statement. “During such a difficult time, the decisions we make for our children will have long term impacts. Which is why it is so important to have leadership that will tackle these challenges head on. ... Our kids must come first.”

She noted that the recall was a grassroots effort “led by parents.”
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SF’s bumbling school board members get the recall election they deserve
SF Examiner | Oct 22

They dithered as parent frustration boiled over due to SFUSD’s lack of a plan to get students back into school despite The City’s relatively low COVID-19 infection rates. Instead of focusing on the basic nuts and bolts of the job, they engaged in cringeworthy performative activism, infamously wasting time and energy on a shambolic and ill-informed effort to strip the names of leaders like Abraham Lincoln and Dianne Feinstein from our (empty) local schools.
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S.F. schools' financial tailspin prompts state to intervene in face of massive shortfall
SF Chronicle | Oct 5

While city schools have received $60 million for pandemic recovery from state and federal sources, and $15 million from city coffers, the district has largely used that money to offset a shortfall this year, preventing cuts to staffing and programs, and expanding online learning and after-school programs, Matthews said.

Spending to support struggling students is understandable, said former school board member Rachel Norton, “but your responsibility as a board member, first and foremost, is the financial condition of the district. That is your job.” She added, “It doesn’t appear that this board has made the hard decisions.”
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The SFUSD Recall Explained
John Rothman radio show | Jun 22
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SFUSD lost touch with 8,800 students during the pandemic
SF Bayview | May 29

This means that, for those 8,800 at-risk students in the state’s seventh-largest school district, they didn’t get the distance learning, educational and supportive services they were entitled to for a whole year. These students of color didn’t attend distance learning classes, meetings or even special events during an entire 2020-21 school year. If a parent failed to do this, they’d be arrested.
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Alison Collins wants $87 million for damage to her career. These SFUSD employees say she destroyed theirs
SF Chronicle | May 7

Someone had come after Theel, directly causing her, she said, to lose two jobs she loved, the first as principal of Francisco Middle School in North Beach and then in the district’s special education department. She lost income, credit toward retirement and even her relationship after she became so miserable that her partner left her.

That someone was Alison Collins, first as a parent with unusual power at Francisco, then as an elected board member.

“It’s been four years, and it still hits me,” Theel said in a phone interview, her voice cracking as she cried. “She ruined my life.”
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Meet the Parents Behind an Effort to Recall Three SF School Board Members
HereSay Media | March 3
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Editorial: Making a mockery of diversity
BAR | Feb 17

Per the video recording of the meeting, no board member asked him a single question, such as why having an LGBTQ person on the PAC is important, his desire to contribute to the school district, or his qualifications. They left him in the corner of the SFGovTV screen even as they talked about him. That's unprofessional.
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How San Francisco Renamed Its Schools
The New Yorker | Feb 6

So none of the errors that I read to you about previous entries made you worried that maybe this was done in a slightly haphazard way?

‍No, because I’ve already shared with you that the people who have contributed to this process are also part of a community that is taking it as seriously as we would want them to. And they’re contributing through diverse perspectives and experiences that are often not included, and that we need to acknowledge.
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S.F. schools see learning gaps widen during pandemic
SF Chronicle | Jan 31

Black, Latino and Asian students in San Francisco as well as those from low-income families have lost significant academic ground compared with wealthier and white students during the pandemic, according to new data released by the school district.

Black and Latino students were also more likely to be absent at least 60% of the time during the fall semester.
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SF school district already flunked distance learning. Why haven't officials spent the summer cramming to ace it?
SF Chronicle | July 10

“The sad fact, and nobody wants to say it out loud, is that if we continue with distance learning, the vast majority of students will not get anywhere near what they would get in the classroom,” Sanchez said. “That is doubly so for students who are already vulnerable.”

COMMON QUESTIONS

and their answers!

They'll be up for election in November -- why not wait and vote them out then?

There are three reasons this can’t wait until fall.

1/ Budget crisis. The school board members nearly doubled the budget deficit, to $125 million every year.

They spent bond funds without the required oversight committee, and skipped audits.

Buena Visa Horace Mann was #3 on the list of bond projects the voters approved-- but it disappeared from the list, and no one knows why. (BVHM has rats, dangerous electrical wiring, and falling tiles.)

It’s not clear where all the money went, or why the new elementary school for the Bayview was put on hold.
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2/ Learning loss. Our schools were closed longer than any other top 25 city, and as a result our kids have fallen far behind.

This board has not acknowledged learning loss, much less measured it and come up with a plan to address it.

When kids can’t read well by the end of third grade, there’s a downward spiral that leads to higher dropout rates. It's been almost two years. They can't wait.
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3/ Superintendent. The board is currently in the process of choosing a new superintendent, and we don’t think good candidates will want to work with this board.

The superintendent will set our district’s course for the next 5-7 years, and this is a time of crisis, so a good candidate is crucial.
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Budget crisis, learning loss, superintendent – that’s why we need change NOW.
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You're just trying to overturn the results of the election.

This recall wasn’t started because we didn’t like the results of the election. They’ve been in office for years.

This recall was started when they turned out to be incompetent.

They’ve treated constituents with contempt, doubled the budget deficit to $125m in annual expenses, spent bond money without oversight or audits, and failed to admit that kids fell behind academically during the pandemic— much less have a plan to bring them back up to speed.

The school district is in crisis, and leaving incompetent people in place is hurting our kids.

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$3.25 million is a lot of money!

This board has misspent far more than $3.25 million.
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They lost $5+ million in state reopening funds by keeping schools closed.
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They doubled the budget deficit, to $125 million.

They spent bond funds without oversight, and skipped audits. Projects were dropped, and no one knows why. And it's not fully clear where the bond money was spent.
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This gives the Mayor too much power.

Yes, she gets to appoint the replacements. We are planning an open process to suggest replacements, and we hope you will participate.

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Billionaires are backing this recall!

Gavin Newsom raised $70 million from very similar people. Should we have voted against his recall?

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Vote
‍YES

Recall the School Board

López

COLLINS

MOLIGA

Our schools are in crisis

Actually, three crises...
...and they were caused by the actions of this school board

Equity Crisis

Budget Crisis

Leadership Crisis

San Francisco wants change

Endorsements

Vote YES with us

Read more

and then vote YES to recall López, Collins, & Moliga

COMMON QUESTIONS

and their answers!

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Our schools are in crisis

Actually, three crises... ...and they were caused by the actions of this school board

Equity Crisis

Budget Crisis

Leadership Crisis

San Francisco wants change

Endorsements

Vote YES with us

Read more

and then vote YES to recall López, Collins, & Moliga

COMMON QUESTIONS

and their answers!

Get our newsletter

about us

we're powered by

social

Actually, three crises...
...and they were caused by the actions of this school board