The effort to recall three members of the San Francisco School Board is making some significant progress in gathering signatures. But the big news is that recent polling shows this recall has a real chance to succeed if it can make it on the ballot.

Ruth Bernstein, CEO of EMC Research, outlined in a June 25 memo to “interested parties” some very worrisome numbers for the school board and the San Francisco Unified 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 500 to 640 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 60% support for recalling the school board members — with support for the recall among parents of kids in San Francisco’s public schools jumping to 69%…

The May polls showed a cumulative 71% negative rating of the school board and just a 10% positive rating.

With favorability numbers like that, chances are good all three members will be recalled if this makes it to the ballot. But for it to get there, the recall organizers have to gather 51,325 valid signatures for each board member they are trying to recall. In other words, each person who signs has to sign their name three times.

For safety’s sake, the recall effort is seeking to gather 70,000 signatures for each board member. They have until Sep. 7 to gather those signatures. As of last week, organizers were nearing the halfway point:

30,000 SIGNATURES!!!
Lopez > 30,100
Collins > 30,300
Moliga > 28,200

Our signature gathering is gaining momentum as we put paid signature gatherers on the streets — kindly donate to help us pay for them and get to our target on time!https://t.co/sOZSfedbND

— Recall SF School Board (@recallsfboe) July 13, 2021

However, the pace of the signature gathering should be increasing soon because the group is now raising money to put paid signature gatherers on the street.

As for why the board is so unpopular, you can really take your pick. There was the board’s decision not to accept a white male parent on their advisory committee because he wasn’t diverse enough (even though he was gay). There was Alison Collins hot take on Asian parents using “white supremacist thinking” to get ahead. There was the disastrous school renaming effort which made a number of embarrassing mistakes. Board President Gabriela Lopez didn’t seem to care about the errors even when they were pointed out in news stories. There was the decision to remove competitive testing for entry to Lowell High School on the grounds that too many Asians were being admitted. Or maybe people thought Alison Collins laughable $87 million lawsuit against the school board was the last straw.

Suffice it to say, there are lots of reasons parents are fed up with the SF School Board. Removing the woke members who have been pushing most of this nonsense while simultaneously slow-walking a return to classrooms should be a layup if they can gather enough signatures.