| 12.03.07|
Can You Spare $350k?
That is what the Teachers Association of Long Beach (TALB) is asking their teacher members this holiday season—which, for TALB, lasts until the elections for school board. According to reports, Barbara Kerr (interim trustee leader of TALB) announced to TALB’s political action committee last week that they would spend $350,000 in the upcoming board elections to unseat incumbents Felton Williams and Jon Meyers.
Kerr, who was appointed trustee of TALB by the California Teachers Association due to mismanagement and the inability of the Board of Directors and leadership of TALB to effectively run the organization, appears to be cut from the same cloth as previously fired TALB Executive Director Scott McVarish. Both appear to want to take political control of the school board so they can replace existing administration personnel, including Superintendent Chris Steinhauser, with TALB supported and appointed personnel. If I were employed by Long Beach Unified School District in any capacity but teacher I would be very concerned for future contracts and benefits. After paying off the teachers for their positions, how much would be left for others?
Ironically, the $350,000 amount Kerr announced for upcoming elections is very close to the number that TALB owes LBUSD for the salaries of TALB President Michael Day and others. In an effort to be conciliatory and assist TALB as it sorted through financial woes with the assistance of the CTA Trustee team, Steinhauser allowed the debt to be paid over time and did not call for immediate payment. Now that it is apparent that CTA and TALB intend to use those funds to gain control of the school board it would make sense for the Board of Education and Steinhauser to demand immediate repayment and freeze future payments on behalf of TALB until the debt is paid in full. If Kerr and TALB want to be hostile and create that sort of playing field, then the District needs to respond in kind.
Also at the TALB PAC meeting Kerr allegedly stated TALB supports Michael Ellis, the school board member who has numerous convictions for various traffic and alcohol related offenses and has missed most recent closed door and public meetings. It appears she has put out a call to the membership to pack the board meeting on Tuesday night to voice support of Ellis. How any respectful member of any education community can publicly avow support for someone as unqualified and incapable at filling his duties as Mr. Ellis is beyond me, but for TALB leadership, and evidently Kerr and CTA, the ends of complete control of the District justifies the means—even if it is embarrassing and unseemly.
Deep in debt from the $750,000 spent in the last election cycle, somehow it is financially prudent to spend another $350,000 in the upcoming election. The only ways this expenditure makes sense is primarily if the membership does not seem to care and remains apathetic about their dues and contributions and if the result is a majority of votes on the Board of Education.
As long as CTA and McVarish control TALB, we can continue to see more of the overaggressive tactics against LBUSD (and more importantly, the teachers) as PAC dues are raised without votes as they were in the past year. Teachers continue to have among the highest union dues in the state. With approximately $1 million per year going to CTA, there is little doubt why they teachers concerned about this cash-cow for their organization.
So there you have it. What appeared to be a move by the parent organization, California Teachers Association, to reset TALB on solid footing and the ability to move forward with their supposed purpose of helping their membership, now appears to be a move to control TALB so it can join CTA in its goal to dominate all facets of education in this state. Since Long Beach, and particularly Ellis’ District, is heavily Democratic—and therefore also heavily aligned with the labor unions—the bet by CTA and TALB is that they can and will win this battle. Playing on the politics of the union and party relationship they are betting that local Democratic politicians who are seeking current or future office will not publicly decry their excessive expenditures, the importing of candidates from other communities, the legal actions and tactics to disrupt the LBUSD and the milking of their membership for dues and contributions to elect overly union friendly members of the Board of Education. So far, their bets are paying off, as not one elected official who is not a member of the Board of Education has said a word about the situation. On the campaign trail we hear politicians give lip service to education and its importance to our communities, our economies and our future. With a chance to speak to an actual local education issue that threatens to crash the most successful urban district in the State of California (and perhaps the country) the silence from our elected officials is deafening.
Let your voice be heard even if theirs are silent. Attend the Board of Education meeting at 1515 Hughes Way (East of Santa Fe and North of Wardlow) on Tuesday December 4th. The meeting begins at 5:00. I suggest you get there early to fill out a comment card if you wish to speak. Speak up for education in your community.
Your thoughts welcome, click here to email me or on “Leave A Comment” below for public response.
