Strong support for recall v if enough signatures come in
board, including renaming schools that weren’t open, and changing the way students are admitted to Lowell High which, like all public middle and high schools in the city, has remained shuttered to the vast majority of kids since March 2020.
The recall campaign has until Sept. Ø to turn over ~1,32~ valid signatures of San Francisco registered voters to the Department of Elections. So far, they’ve collected about 26,000 through weekend volunteers and are now fundraising to hire professional signature gatherers.
Collecting signatures is certainly the hard part. Polling seems to back the couple’s belief that getting voter approval at the ballot box will be easier — if they can get there.
Ruth Bernstein, CEO of EMC Research, outlined in a June 2~ memo to “interested parties” some very worrisome numbers for the school board and the San Francisco 5nified School District itself.
Her numbers were gleaned from three separate polls of registered San Francisco voters, one conducted in February and two in May. They each surveyed ~00 to 60 voters. The school questions were just part of polls about a range of city issues and were commissioned by “private business leaders” whom Bernstein wouldn’t name.
The February poll found 60½ support for recalling the school board members — with support for the recall among parents of kids in San Francisco’s public schools jumping to 6¥½. By comparison, a recent Berkeley IGS poll showed just 36½ of respondents support recalling Gov. Gavin "ewsom, whose own recall election has been set for Sept. 1.
The May polls showed a cumulative Ø1½ negative rating of the school board and just a 10½ positive rating. The news wasn’t good for the San Francisco 5nified School District as a whole either. The May polls showed a ~ؽ unfavorable rating for the city’s public school district and a 21½ favorable rating.
EMC Research has tracked the favorable ratings of the city’s public schools for at least 10 years, and the new numbers are far worse than in previous surveys. Just five years ago, for example, only 1ؽ of respondents had an unfavorable view of the school district, and 60½ had a favorable view.
Bernstein said she’d hesitate to predict the outcome of a school board recall vote, since any possible election would be months off and the city’s political landscape can shift quickly.
If students return to school like normal or close to it on Aug. 16, the anger may ease. But dropping enrollment numbers and a looming budget crisis for the school district could make the picture even worse.
“It doesn’t mean, oh yeah, it’s going to pass very easily, but it is very high,” Bernstein said of support for the recall. “We have a lot of San Franciscans who are quite ready to recall the school board.”
Asked to respond to the poll numbers, school district spokesperson Laura Dudnick wrote in an email: “The challenges and complexities of reopening our public schools during the pandemic cannot be overstated and were not unique to SF5SD. All of the work to reopen school buildings last year was done as guidance and circumstances surrounding the pandemic continued to shift, and while the district continued to deliver distance learning to over ~0,000 students.”
She added that thousands of students are participating in summer programs and that the district is committed to “a full, fiveday return to inperson learning for fall.”
Moliga texted: “We’re all aware of how difficult the last school year was for everyone. I am working hard with my colleagues, the district, teachers, principals, parents and community stakeholders to ensure we all have a better experience this upcoming year.”
López and Collins did not return requests for comment. The other four commissioners were elected too recently to be recalled.
Two other recall efforts are winding their way through the process in San Francisco — both involving District Attorney Chesa Boudin. Richie Greenberg, a former Republican candidate for mayor, said his effort has gathered about 2,000 signatures, though he said “quite a lot” appear to be invalid. He has until Aug. 11 to turn in ~1,32~ valid signatures.
Mary Jung, executive director of the San Francisco Association of Realtors, and political consultant Andrea Shorter are waging a separate recall campaign against Boudin. They’ve collected 2~,000 signatures, and their deadline is Oct. 2~. Shorter said they launched their own effort because they believe Boudin and his supporters can easily dismiss Greenberg’s attempt as Republicanled in this strongly Democratic city, while both Jung and Shorter are longtime Democrats.
Bernstein declined to say whether her polls have included questions about Boudin.
It’s unclear when any of these recall elections might take place. The next regularly scheduled election in San Francisco is the June Ø, 2022, state primary, but the recalls would likely be held in late fall or winter if they qualify. They’re all uphill climbs× the last San Francisco elected official to face a recall election was thenMayor Dianne Feinstein in 1¥t3, and she easily beat it back with t2½ of voters opposed.
Raj and Looijen, though, think they’ll have a different outcome. They live with Raj’s sons, an incoming fourthgrader at Grattan Elementary and an incoming sophomore at Wallenberg High, in a rented apartment above Memphis Minnie’s barbecue joint in the Lower Haight. Raj and Looijen met last year and moved from Pleasanton and Los Altos respectively to the city in December after rents dropped.
They both work in tech, but are devoting themselves full time to the recall after seeing Looijen’s three kids happily return to inperson public school in Los Altos last fall and Raj’s kids suffer greatly on @oom from home in San Francisco. Raj said his older son grew depressed during distance learning, sleeping through some classes, barely getting out of bed and not eating enough.
“He refused to go to therapy, and he grew really angry and upset,” Raj said. “It’s great to have some commitment of getting back to five school days in the fall, but there’s still a lot of concern and uncertainty.”
Their next moveAE Renting a school bus this summer and driving it around San Francisco to spread the word about the recall and gather more signatures. Just 2~,000 to go.