SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) – This week, voters in San Francisco decided to recall three members of the city’s school board and two of them spoke with KRON4.
In a story you’ll only see here, they tell us that their job as educators is far from over.
“I will always stand by our community who are asking for these changes,” Gabriela Lopez said.
“I am not going to stop being here. I am not going to stop being involved. I am not going to stop advocating,” Alison Collins said.
San Francisco School Board President Gabriela Lopez and Commissioner Alison Collins share their thoughts in the wake of being recalled in Tuesday’s special election.
“None of this is a surprise. We’ve been threatened of a recall, maybe even six months into our term because of what we were highlighting. What we were bringing up. What we were challenging. The issue that I am pointing to is when that comes from people of color, primarily women of color, that is enough of a problem to silence us. How they achieved that was through a recall,” Lopez said.
The most controversial school board commissioner is Alison Collins. Her thoughts in the wake of being recalled?
“I am concerned that there will be folks who will want to roll back some of the work that we have done and in effect erase the voice of parents and student volunteers who worked really hard over decades to get some of these changes made, and all of the resolutions that people have cited as, distractions, were actually authored by those communities,” Collins said.
Lopez and Collins said they are not done advocating for equity on behalf of marginalized students of color in San Francisco.
Board Commissioner Faauuga Moliga is not waiting for Mayor London Breed to find his replacement. He chose to step down now.
Moliga wrote in a prepared statement, “Resigning immediately creates an opportunity for a new board member to step in at this important moment.”
“I want to make sure that whoever is going to be appointed can be brought in as soon as possible as we have some important issues coming up with balancing the budget and selecting a new superintendent,” Moliga wrote.
“I look forward to refocusing on my family and continuing to serve my community. I didn’t take any day for granted. I feel very grateful for the contributions I’ve made and I’m proud of the work we’ve done to support Pacific Islanders,” Moliga wrote.