Back in late 2020 and early 2021, with schoolchildren having suffered enough from closures due to COVID lockdowns, the San Francisco United School District came under fire for voting to rename a whopping 44 schools in the district, more than one-third of the schools. The vote was ultimately rescinded after the understandable outrage, but that it got as far as it did is still worth bringing it up, considering how even schools named after beloved liberal icons were on the list.
Not only did targeted schools include those named after former, top-ranked presidents like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, but so was Dianne Feinstein. The late senator whose death was confirmed on Friday not only represented California in the U.S. Senate, but also served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors as well as served as the Mayor of San Francisco.
Heartfelt well-wishes came pouring in from both sides of the aisle upon news of her death. An especially fond story is how she told off a bunch of young climate change activists who marched into her office, claiming they voted for her, though Feinstein got them to admit they weren't old enough to actually do so.
So, what was wrong with Feinstein, according to the school district? The district, as Guy reported when the initial vote took place for the district to waste time on name changes of schools that weren't even open at the time, was looking to change the "names of schools named for historical figures who engaged in the subjugation and enslavement of human beings; or who oppressed women, inhibiting societal progress; or whose actions led to genocide; or who otherwise significantly diminished the opportunities of those amongst us to the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
A CNN article quoted San Francisco Board of Education President Gabriela López on the motivation of the renaming. López was one of the several board members ultimately ousted a year later, but more on that later. "This resolution came to the school board in the wake of the attacks in Charlottesville," she said. "And we are working alongside the rest of the country to dismantle symbols of racism and White supremacy culture."
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Here's why Feinstein was on the chopping block, according to Byron York at the Washington Examiner:
So what about Senator Feinstein? Well, before she was first elected to the Senate in 1992, Feinstein served as mayor of San Francisco from 1978 until 1988. Feinstein's offense, in the eyes of the School Board, occurred In 1984, when a socialist activist from the Sparticist League and Labor Black League for Social Defense tore down a Confederate flag displayed among 18 flags in a "Pavilion of American Flags" history exhibit in San Francisco. (Much of this story comes from an account by journalist Gabe Stutman in The Jewish News of Northern California.) The exhibit had been in place since 1964, and when the activist tore down the Confederate flag, Feinstein had it replaced with another Confederate flag. The next day, the Sparticist protester tore down the replacement flag, and Feinstein relented, eliminating the Confederate flag from the exhibit. She later apologized for her actions.
Some in the School Board have resented Feinstein ever since. "Dianne Feinstein chose to fly a flag that is the iconography of domestic racism, white avarice and inhumanity toward black and indigenous people at the City Hall," the School Names Advisory Committee chair, Jeremiah Jeffries, told the San Francisco Chronicle. "She still has time to dedicate the rest of her life to the upliftment of black, first nations and other people of color. She hasn't thus far, so her apology simply wasn't convincing." And that is how Dianne Feinstein came to have her name removed from Dianne Feinstein Elementary School in San Francisco.
When it comes to Democrats being in disarray, this one is a doozy. Democratic Mayor London Breed was one of those blasting the district via a scathing statement, as Leah covered. It started off referencing an understanding of that conversation, but was especially critical of the timing. Emphasis is added:
"I understand the significance of the name of a school, and a school’s name should instill a feeling of pride in every student that walks through its doors, regardless of their race, religion, or sexual orientation. In fact, the public elementary school I attended as a child was renamed for Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks, and I believe it is a name that instills pride for the community. This is an important conversation to have, and one that we should involve our communities, our families, and our students," Breed said.
"What I cannot understand is why the School Board is advancing a plan to have all these schools renamed by April, when there isn’t a plan to have our kids back in the classroom by then," she continued. "Our students are suffering, and we should be talking about getting them in classrooms, getting them mental health support, and getting them the resources they need in this challenging time. Our families are frustrated about a lack of a plan, and they are especially frustrated with the fact that the discussion of these plans weren’t even on the agenda for last night’s School Board meeting.
"I believe our children should be a part of the conversation around the renaming of their schools, and I believe the education and discussions need to happen within our school walls. Let’s bring the same urgency and focus on getting our kids back in the classroom, and then we can have that longer conversation about the future of school names," Breed concluded.
Liberal media outlets also expressed outrage as well. The Atlantic actually got it right, publishing "The Holier-Than-Thou Crusade in San Francisco," which had the subheadline of "The city’s move to rename schools will provide invaluable ammunition to Fox News." It wasn't just Fox News, though.
The New York Times, in writing about "It’s Liberals vs. Liberals in San Francisco After Schools Erase Contested Names," as one of its many pieces on the district considering renaming schools, made note of a "scathing" editorial from the San Fransisco Chronicle, "San Francisco’s school board in name only." Even NPR noted the plan had been "controversial."
The San Francisco Chronicle put out a poll asking readers to vote on which schools they would name. It wasn't even close. Of the 6,104 who voted, 1,415 said they would vote to rename none of the 44 schools. The next closest was Junipero Serra Elementary, which 329 would rename.
Students returned on August 16, 2021 for in-person learning for the San Francisco district. The mask mandate ended on March 12, 2022 for middle schools and high schools, and until April 2 for all other schools.
Going back to López, as Townhall has been covering over the years, the school district is an absolute mess. She and Alison Collins as well as Faauuga Moliga were recalled in February of 2022. Seventy-five percent voted to recall López, 79 percent voted to recall Collins, and 73 percent voted to recall Moliga.
Collins was an especially embattled member, as she had come under fire for her anti-Asian remarks, in a city with 37.3 percent of Asian residents. She had also lost her role as vice president in late March 2021 after stubbornly refusing to resign.
Breed acknowledged to "Meet the Press" not long after that 2022 recall vote that the members were "focused on other things" that were "clearly a distraction."
The name for the elementary school, the Dianne Feinstein School, remains today.
The 44 schools included the following: Balboa High School, Abraham Lincoln High School, Mission High School, George Washington High School, Lowell High School, James Denman Middle School, Everett Middle School, Herbert Hoover Middle School, James Lick Middle School, Presidio Middle School, Roosevelt Middle School, Lawton Alternative, Claire Lilienthal: Madison Campus, Claire Lilienthal: Winfield Scott Campus (Grades 3-8), Paul Revere K-8, Alamo Elementary, Alvarado Elementary, Bryant Elementary, Clarendon Elementary Second Community, JBBP (Japanese Bilingual Bicultural Program) at Clarendon, El Dorado Elementary, Dianne Feinstein Elementary, Garfield Elementary, Grattan Elementary, Jefferson Elementary, Francis Scott Key Elementary, Frank McCoppin Elementary, McKinley Elementary, Marshall Elementary, Monroe Elementary, John Muir Elementary, Jose Ortega Elementary, Sanchez Elementary, Junipero Serra Elementary, Sheridan Elementary, Sherman Elementary, Commodore Sloat Elementary, Robert Louis Stevenson Elementary, Sutro Elementary, Ulloa Elementary, Daniel Webster Elementary, Jefferson Early Education School, Junipero Serra Early Education School, Noriega EES, Presidio EES, Stockton EES.
