Hi everyone,

Welcome back from your break. I hope you had time to recharge from a very busy and productive start of the school year. Hopefully you thumbed through the latest CFT California Teacher that came to your home. ABC was mentioned on page four along with multiple pictures from our campaign for the ABCFT endorsed candidates for the ABC School Board. This article is a testament of our success during the last school board election. Thanks to all of those who supported our effort. Having Union Friendly School Board Members is by far the most important piece in the puzzle when it comes to creating a district culture of collaboration as we work together to do what is right for teachers and kids.

If you didn't catch the article here is the not so pretty version of page 4.

If you want to see the real deal you can download the California Teacher @ http://www.cft.org/index.php/publications.html

Have a good week!

Ray

ABCFT President

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Union members step up to elect education-friendly candidates in November board races

Life in the small North Monterey County Unified School District had become increasingly difficult. Things finally hit a boiling point after a largely appointed school board and an out-of-touch superintendent imposed the largest K-3 class sizes in the region and forced the faculty to accept furlough days even as the district rolled up a record ending balance.

According to Kelly Moore, president of the North Monterey Federation of Teachers, the “deteriorating conditions were related to our detachment for the last 15 years.” So the faculty decided to act. Under Moore’s leadership, the union recruited a popular teacher who worked in a neighboring district but lived in the community to run for the school board.

Teacher candidate Mike Deckelmann enthusiastically reached out to voters in the largely rural district. He spoke with voters in coffee shops, at their doors, and over the phone. Parents and the faculty members added their voices to the growing chorus for fundamental change in the district’s operation.

The faculty became so motivated that a quarter of the union’s 200 members phoned voters, some volunteering repeatedly for phone bank duty. The candidate and the union augmented this personal touch with campaign mailers. The union also worked with its local labor council as a way to reach union voters who worked for other government bodies and in a variety of industries.

@ a fundraiser for Lynda's Campaign for ABC School Board
Left to Right Emma Gaer, Ray Gaer (ABCFT President), Lynda Johnson (candidate)
Richard Hathaway (ABCFT Treasurer) , Ruth Gaer, Lily Gaer

“The anger was palpable,” said Moore, and on election day the district officials got the message. Deckelmann, the teacher, came in first place out of five candidates for two seats in an at-large election. While he would be only one vote on a five-person board, the unambiguous sentiment for change led the superintendent to offer his resignation.

In Los Angeles County, a number of small and medium-sized local unions likewise experienced 
big wins.

Ray Gaer, president of the ABC Federation of Teachers, described his union’s sweep of five seats on the district’s seven-member board as “a huge win.”

The four-way race to fill an unexpired term on the ABC board was very close, as Lynda Johnson, the union-endorsed candidate won by 
22 votes. This victory was a result of a strong campaign and coalition politics. The AFT members distributed election flyers together with the support staff represented by CSEA and AFSCME.

“We earned the respect” of political figures at city hall who thought they could impose their candidate on the education community, according to Gaer.

The Culver City Federation of Teachers knocked out an incumbent as it helped elect its two endorsed candidates, Nancy Goldberg and Laura Chardiet. Chardiet won by some three dozen votes.

The El Rancho Federation of Teachers supported the reelection of school board member Delia Alvidrez. This enabled her to finish first in a multi-candidate field.

Local political activity is always important because governing boards oversee district operations, including the hiring of administrators and negotiating of contracts. Political action becomes even more important in times of fiscal austerity. Successful union-supported campaigns that elect committed candidates to governing boards go far to solve the problem of managing existing funds.

— By Kenneth Burt, CFT Political Director