Tipsheet

What Ousted San Francisco School Board President Is Blaming For Her Loss

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  February 18, 2022 8:00 AM

Gabriela López, one of the three progressive San Francisco school board members ousted in a recall election this week, is blaming “white supremacy” for her loss.

“So if you fight for racial justice, this is the consequence,” López, who served as board president, tweeted on Thursday. “Don’t be mistaken, white supremacists are enjoying this. And the support of the recall is aligned with this.” 

She then shared a link to a Washington Post article titled, "San Francisco recalls school board members seen as too focused on racial justice."

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, 75 percent of voters supported removing López from her position. Most significantly, however, is the role Asian Americans played in the recall election.  

It also appeared to be a demonstration of Asian American electoral power, a galvanizing moment for Chinese voters in particular who turned out in unusually large numbers for the election.

In echoes of debates in other cities, many Chinese voters were incensed when the school board introduced a lottery admission system for Lowell High School, the district’s most prestigious institution, abolishing requirements primarily based on grades and test scores. A judge last year ruled that the board had violated procedures in making the change. […]

Criticism of the board grew stronger, while signature gathering for the recall effort was already underway, when controversial tweets written by Ms. Collins, the board’s vice president, were discovered. In them, she said Asian Americans were like slaves who benefited from working inside a slave owner’s house — a comparison that Asian American groups and many city leaders called racist. (NYT)

Another major issue was the board's focus on renaming schools to be more politically correct during the pandemic, even as their doors remained closed to in-person learning. 

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“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,” Mayor London Breed said in a statement in response to the results.