From the Cheap Seats: Flip the Script

Two years ago, The Coast News published a commentary entitled “The Elephant in the Room,” referring to an enormous presence in school board elections — teachers unions.

Now, an election looms in which that presence has grown bigger.

We expect unions to advocate on behalf of their constituents — that’s their job. Sitting opposite them are the boards of trustees, who are there to represent the interests of the district, its parents, students, and taxpayers. Electing trustees who are beholden to unions serves no justifiable purpose — it’s a conflict of interest that cannot be resolved.

It remains true today that “[t]here is no good reason to give the unions control. It makes no sense to have union representatives sitting on both sides of the table when the issues they have an interest in arise.”

Yet that is precisely what a union endorsement is meant to achieve — control of school board trustees. It’s always about power and control and, of course, money.

This problem of school board candidates backed by teachers’ unions is not unique to our area or even to California. It’s a widespread problem that impacts us locally, so it’s wise to take notice.

Wages are only part of the story. The most visible fight with the unions came over attempts to restore in-person schooling after the arrival of COVID-19. We learned the virus was not a significant threat to student health and saw that the vast experiment with “remote learning” was a miserable failure, not only in academic achievement but also in mental health.

But unions fought tooth and nail to prevent a return to classroom instruction, ignoring students’ well-being in favor of their own interests.

Other examples come to mind. In the San Dieguito Union High School District, the teachers’ union forced the recall of the first African American board trustee, unanimously appointed by the board, simply because he was not aligned with them.

Aware of union power, union-backed trustees have repeatedly surrendered to union interests by blocking a contract with a third-party college admissions advisory firm; stonewalling for years the construction of aquatic facilities; scaling back building maintenance; refusing to take necessary precautions to ensure bathroom safety; boosting health care payments to teachers in excess of contract requirements; resisting compromise with parents of disabled students; and failing to discipline teachers who introduced harmful, unapproved content into the classroom.

Union influence on the board of trustees caused resistance to any measure that could potentially reduce the funding available for teacher compensation or limit teacher authority.

In the Encinitas Union School District, the board acquiesced to controversial activities promoting permissive gender ideology, which is a favorite cause of activist teachers. The insistence on such divisive policies by denying lawful opt-outs from certain activities has caused the district and several of its personnel to become the targets of a civil rights lawsuit.

The teachers union’s most in-your-face show of force is the SDUHSD election for the Area 4 trustee. The race involves an eminently qualified incumbent Trustee, Michael Allman, who is not aligned with the union and has been relentlessly attacked since his election in 2020.

He is opposed by Kevin Sabellico, a 26-year-old individual of limited achievement and dubious character who was the subject of a Democratic Party ethics complaint arising from a Carlsbad City Council election.

Making no attempt to disguise his shameless pandering, Sabellico’s campaign centers on his claim to be “The Teachers’ Choice.” He’s backed by union contributions exceeding $36,000, more than enough to run a normal campaign. With nothing to say about issues of genuine concern to voters, he has taken “negative campaigning” to a new level. Voters in Area 4 can thank his union backers for the nasty mailers.

This is the most extreme demonstration of union muscle in SDUHSD elections. But make no mistake; their presence has been felt for years on the campaign trail and in the board room.

The candidates want you to know the union is in their corner. So take notice, but flip the script. Don’t vote for the union-endorsed candidates in Encinitas (“Teachers of Encinitas”), Carlsbad (“Carlsbad Union Teachers Association”), or SDUHSD (“San Dieguito Faculty Association”).

Choose the other guy or gal. Vote for a candidate who will prioritize students, parents and taxpayers over the unions. It’s that simple.

A version of this commentary was published in The Coast News.