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Former New York City mayor and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg penned a scathing op-ed Tuesday warning Democrats are “headed for a wipeout” in the midterm elections this November.
Citing the recent recall of three school board members in “America’s most liberal city,” San Francisco, Bloomberg argued that his party is in need of an “immediate course correction” that prioritizes quality education over “political correctness” and fighting “culture wars.”
SAN FRANCISCO RECALLS 3 SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS: ‘A CLEAR MESSAGE’
“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 wrote on the Bloomberg news site.
“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. As private schools opened, public schools remained closed.
Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg speaks during a service at the Vernon Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
“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,” he continued.
“Second, the school board members seemed more concerned with political correctness than educating children. 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,” he said. “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.”
Bloomberg said Democrats must acknowledge that schools remained closed for too long and that eliminating standards is the wrong path to equity, or else they will lose their razor-thin majorities in the House and Senate.
“Swing voters will decide the 2022 midterm elections, and right now, polls show they are swinging away from Democrats,” he said.
Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg speaks at the Greenwood Cultural Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
San Francisco residents overwhelmingly approved of a vote last week to recall school board President Gabriela López, Vice President Faauuga Moliga and Commissioner Alison Collins.
Critics, including San Francisco Mayor London Breed, argued the members pushed progressive politics rather than act in the best interest of children during the pandemic.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed speaks at a press conference regarding the next steps she will be taking to replace three school board members who were successfully recalled at City Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, in San Francisco, California. (Gabrielle Lurie/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
“The voters of this city have delivered a clear message that the school board must focus on the essentials of delivering a well-run school system above all else,” Breed said in a statement after the vote. “San Francisco is a city that believes in the value of big ideas, but those ideas must be built on the foundation of a government that does the essentials well.”
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Bloomberg’s comments echoed similar concerns discussed after the recall on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” where panelist Donny Deutsch argued Democrats need to “step away from super-wokeness.”
“The Democrats have to step away from the super wokeness,” Deutsch said. “I mean San Francisco really tells what’s going on. You have three school board members that were voted out by 70% because they’re focusing on things like changing the name of schools. This is not what voters care about. When it comes to school, they care about are they safe, are they getting the right education … are the schools open?”
Host Joe Scarborough agreed that woke politics is “really hurting” Democratic candidates.