02/17/2022
Small voter turnout results in school board recalls in San Francisco - calls for Mayor Breed to appoint caretaker board members ahead of November election.
Tuesday night in San Francisco, in a low turnout election enabled by billionaire funders, a small electorate recalled three school board members. While there are still votes to be counted, as of Wednesday morning, turnout is expected to be around 30-40%, well below the 76% of voters who participated in the regular November election when the Board Members were chosen. We urge Mayor Breed to appoint caretaker board members who have a depth of experience with SFUSD, will not run for office in November, and who will focus on the needs of our students.
Specifically, given significant funding from charter school investors, developer interests and corporations like PG&E, the Mayor should be wary of appointing people affiliated with charter schools or people without SFUSD experience who are looking to start a political career on the backs of our students as a way of shaping housing or utility policies.
Campaign co-chair Julie Roberts-Phung said: “SFUSD is making decisions right now about classroom allocations and school budgets. We don’t want for San Francisco what we are seeing across the Bay in Oakland. Charter schools and real estate interests have an incentive to close public schools, and we can’t afford to have appointees representing these interests on the board and making decisions about enrollment and hiring a Superintendent, when there’s an election again in November.”
Since a November election with a full, diverse electorate and spending caps could return a very different election result from the one in this surprise election, it’s especially important that there is stability for our students over the next year, and not major policy changes. We say again, our schools need resources not recalls.
This recall is part of a troubling national trend and is already emboldening corporate and right wing attacks on school boards as a pathway into politics. The smaller, less diverse electorate is proof that special recall elections are not reflective of the full will of the voters, and are instead an intentional voter suppression strategy.
The characteristics of this surprise election were not a level playing field and do not reflect the values of San Francisco voters. Specifically, there are no spending caps in recalls, while in candidate elections there is a $500 limit. This gave billionaire funding an outsized influence in the election – the $2 million spent by the recallers was more than all the candidates in several years of San Francisco school board races have raised – and that amount would fund a SFUSD elementary school budget entirely for 2 years. The NoSchoolBoardRecall.org campaign raised about $40,000 - similar to the amount raised and spent by a single candidate in a regular school board election.
This meant that the recall side outspent community opposition by about 40 to 1. The campaign deeply appreciates the support of UESF, SEIU 1021, Our Revolution, SF Berniecrats and other groups who worked on the effort, but it ultimately wasn’t enough to balance out the flood of billionaire dollars.
Local media provided very little coverage of who was financing the recall until after the election was already
underway.* Funders of the recall effort included William Oberndorf (conservative donor who has contributed $1 million to keep Mitch McConnell in charge in the Senate), Arthur Rock (charter school investor from Colorado who contributed $400,000 to this effort and has also contributed to CA school voucher efforts), and Davis Sacks (billionaire who held a fundraiser for FL Republican Governor Ron DeSantis and lives in a mansion that was a public school closed during previous SFUSD budget crises).
“It is deeply troubling for our diverse SFUSD students that such a low turnout election funded by billionaires can remove duly elected board members at a time when students need stability and resources more than ever. Our campaign is proud of our volunteers and the community capacity we built, but we are really worried about what the appointed board members will mean for our students at a time when we are facing budget cuts and hiring a new Superintendent. Ultimately, our volunteers have been, and will continue to work with all SFUSD Commissioners, appointed or elected, to center the voices of students, parents and educators. We will continue to fight for the equitable resources that our students need, to fulfill long overdue promises SFUSD has made to our students, and to get the best possible candidates for the full, diverse electorate to vote on in November.” said Co-Chair Tara Ramos.
* Local coverage of who funded the recall:
Who is Arthur Rock, the school board recall’s biggest backer? - Mission Local - Will Jarrett - https://missionlocal.org/2022/02/arthur-rock-billionaire-donor-to-sf-school-board-recall-has-put-money-into-charter-schools-and-school-board-elections-for-decades/
Money and Motives: Who Is Paying for the School Board Recall, and Why? Written by Ida Mojadad - https://sfstandard.com/education/money-and-motives-school-board-recall/
