Michael Bloomberg issued a stark warning for Democrats as the 2022 midterms approach, telling them that the recent San Francisco school board recall is a bellwether for the fall elections.
In an editorial for Bloomberg News, the former mayor of New York City, 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, and Democratic megadonor warned that the recall of three members of the San Francisco Board of Education pointed to a broader trend across the country. Without a major course correction, the Democrats would be headed for an electoral wipeout, Bloomberg argued.
“The political earthquake that just occurred in San Francisco should be a dire warning to the national Democratic Party, because the same fault line stretches across the country and the tremors are only increasing,” Bloomberg began. “Three months after Republicans scored major election upsets in Virginia and New Jersey, largely because of the frustration parents felt with Democratic officials who catered to teachers’ unions and culture warriors at the expense of children, voters in San Francisco recalled three school board members by margins of nearly three to one. Coming from America’s most liberal city, those results should translate into a 7 to 8 on the Richter scale, because the three main factors that drove the recall are not unique to the Bay Area.”
“First, the school board members failed to show any urgency in reopening schools even when it was clear that doing so was safe — and that remote classes were leaving students further and further behind.” Bloomberg wrote. “Nothing has widened social achievement gaps more than poorly conceived remote instruction. Parents know this, and Democratic elected officials need to show them that they know it, too.”
The Daily Wire previously reported that issues related to school lockdowns have contributed to declines in school attendance among students. Graduation rates in at least 20 U.S. states stalled or even dropped in 2021. School lockdowns have had the greatest impact on low-income and minority students. According to a report from the San Francisco Chronicle, “Black and Latino students were also more likely to be absent at least 60% of the time during the fall semester.” In Baltimore, more than 4 in 10 public high school students achieved less than a 1.0 GPA during the 2020-2021 school year.
“Second, the school board members seemed more concerned with political correctness than educating children,” Bloomberg wrote. “Instead of reopening schools, they spent their time renaming them, stripping off the names of historic figures like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln before a public outcry forced them to reverse course. Meanwhile, parents struggled to keep their heads above water as they tried to manage having their children at home. The city’s Democratic mayor, London Breed, rightly criticized the board for having its priorities backward.”
“Third, the school board members voted to eliminate merit-based admissions at one of the nation’s top-performing schools. Students had long been admitted based on their grades and tests, until the board moved to a lottery system. Make no mistake: Lowering standards in the name of fairness only exacerbates injustice and inequality. Closing achievement gaps must be done by creating more high-quality schools, not undermining existing ones. Voters understand this, and they will keep casting their ballots for candidates who do, too,” said Bloomberg.
“A recent Democratic Party poll showed that voters perceive it as being too ‘focused on the culture wars’ — from renaming schools to defunding the police. But the advice that party leaders are giving members of Congress — to ‘correct the record’ when Republicans criticize them on schools and culture — isn’t going to cut it,” Bloomberg said. “Swing voters will decide the 2022 midterm elections, and right now, polls show they are swinging away from Democrats. The earthquake that shook San Francisco needs to shake up our party, before voters do it themselves in November.”
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