San Francisco’s Political Foreshock

The woke get a wake-up call as voters recall three school board members.

WSJ editorial.

"San Francisco experienced a moderate earthquake Tuesday as liberal Democrats revolted against woke, coercive progressivism and overwhelmingly recalled three school board members. The political seismic waves are rippling across the country, potentially signaling a bigger quake in November.

The school board recall was a landslide, with Alison Collins (79%), Gabriela Lopez (75%) and Faauuga Moliga (72%) getting soundly defeated. Successful recalls are rare, and it takes real effort to lose by 3 to 1 or 4 to 1. San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Shamann Walton dismissed the recall as driven by “closet Republicans and most certainly folks with conservative values in San Francisco, even if they weren’t registered Republicans.”

That must be some closet. Republicans make up only 6% of the city’s registered voters. More than 85% of voters backed Joe Biden in November 2020. The recall was a populist groundswell supported by fed-up parents and liberals, including Mayor London Breed and state Sen. Scott Wiener.

Parents may have had more grievances than Martin Luther’s 95 Theses. Start with the school board, at the behest of the teachers union, keeping schools shut through the 2020 school year even as President Biden and Mayor Breed pressed them to reopen. High school students returned to class for a single day last May so schools would qualify for $12 million in funds that Gov. Gavin Newsom had dangled for reopening.

School board members indulged their woke obsessions by seeking to rename 44 schools with allegedly sexist or racist appellations such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein. Then they pushed to end selective admissions at the competitive Lowell High School.

Asians make up more than half of Lowell students, which the board’s progressives believe is unfair. An old unearthed tweet by Ms. Collins accusing Asians of using “white supremacist thinking” exposed her closet prejudice. After getting stripped of her senior board positions, Ms. Collins sued the school district and colleagues for $87 million.

Many parents had already voted against the board by pulling their kids out of the toxic schools. Enrollment has declined by 3,500 during the pandemic. And now voters have sent a resounding message, as Mayor Breed noted, that the “School Board must focus on the essentials of delivering a well-run school system above all else.” Let’s hope they get it.

Local school board elections aren’t usually national harbingers, but we wonder if San Francisco’s revolt might be an exception. Parents helped Glenn Youngkin win the Virginia state house in November and nearly elected a Republican Governor in New Jersey. Two years of Covid shutdowns and what we’ve learned about political indoctrination in schools has parents mobilizing to send a message.

If it can happen in San Francisco, of all places, Democrats should be worried. They need to escape their union bondage and woke fixations. Republicans have a great opportunity to press parental choice on curriculum, charters and vouchers. The woke may wake up to a far bigger shock in November."