Inland unions' presence powerful in school board races

10:18 AM PST on Monday, November 10, 2008

By MELANIE C. JOHNSON
The Press-Enterprise

Challengers fared well in Inland school board races, but the unions that backed them really won the day.

In contests from Rialto to Temecula, employee unions flexed their muscles to successfully oust incumbents and score seats for their chosen candidates Tuesday.

All three of the candidates endorsed by the Corona-Norco Teachers Association -- incumbent Cathy L. Sciortino and challengers Jose Lalas and Michell Skipworth -- won school board seats. Each received $2,450 from the union's political action committee, according to filing fees and a ballot statement.

The results were more mixed in Beaumont.

The Beaumont Teachers Association endorsed Mark Orozco and Tony Brancato for school board in a race for two seats. Orozco won a seat, but Brancato finished third, 114 votes behind Orozco.

Two of the three Rialto Education Association-supported candidates, Michael Ridgway and Joe Martinez, won board seats, defeating the incumbents. Challenger Joe Ayala, who did not get union support, won the third seat. Union-backed Lupe Camacho finished fourth, just out of the running.

The union was active on behalf of their candidates, contributing $2,261 to each, according to campaign finance statements. The union membership also canvassed neighborhoods, made calls through phone banks and blasted the sitting board and the superintendent in mailers for what it called their "failed leadership."

"The support from both unions was crucial," said Martinez, who also had the backing of the California School Employees Association.

Organization

UCR political science professor Shaun Bowler said unions successfully secure seats, whether on school boards or city councils, because they are organized and motivated.

Local races typically are nonpartisan, so voters are unsure of whom to choose, he said. Campaign spending and familiarity with candidates is usually at a lower level in the local races, so union recommendations can have sway, he said.

Sandra Jackson, a California Teachers Association spokeswoman, said unions have a vested interest in who gets elected to school boards.

"They're becoming involved, increasingly so, because education is such an important issue and school boards make the decisions for what's happening in their local area," she said.

Work by Moreno Valley Unified's teachers union paid off for its two candidates that ran for two open seats on the school board.

Former trustee Tracey B. Vackar was the easy winner with 33 percent of the votes and incumbent Rick Sayre kept his seat with 22 percent voter approval.

"I think they (voters) listened to what we had to say because we gave them good reason," said Janet MacMillan, president of the Moreno Valley Educators Association.

The union spent "in the neighborhood of $20,000" on signs, mailings and newspaper and radio ads supporting Vackar and Sayre. Union members also put in a lot of time campaigning for the candidates, MacMillan said.

"We did a lot of calling and precinct walking," MacMillan said. "We worked with the understanding that you can't predict the future and worked extra hard."NEA-Jurupa, which represents teachers in the Jurupa Unified School District, endorsed special education teacher Sheryl Schmidt for one seat but did not issue an endorsement for the other.

Union President Maudie Gooden said Schmidt's work as an educator played a significant role in winning her that endorsement.

Gooden added that there is no expectation that a candidate receiving an endorsement is somehow beholden to the union.

"She has a job to do and she needs to do that job," she said.

Incumbent board member Carl Harris was not endorsed after he supported a parent's contention that the book "The Kite Runner" -- assigned reading in an advanced placement English class -- was pornographic, Gooden said.

Gooden said the union did not endorse Noreen Considine, who beat Harris, because "we didn't feel comfortable endorsing her."

'Proud to Be Endorsed'

Two of the Hemet teachers union political action committee candidates, challenger Lisa DeForest and incumbent Charlotte Jones, were elected. Incumbent David W. Peters was not endorsed by the union but won his bid for re-election.

In Val Verde, political newcomer Fredy R. De Leon, netted almost 33 percent of the votes. The Val Verde Teachers Association did not endorse the substitute teacher, and he won without posting one campaign sign.

"I'm surprised that I won. I assumed that I was going to come in third," De Leon said.

Union-backed Renonah Oñate McGee lost while Stacey L. Guzman, who also had union support, won.

In the race for two seats on the Lake Elsinore Unified school board, the unions had some success. Both the Lake Elsinore Teachers Association and the district's classified employees union backed two challengers. One of those, former teacher and administrator Susan Scott, won.

Scott received $3,500 from the teachers union and $1,800 from the classified union. A second candidate, Tina Cullors, received $3,500 from the teachers union and $2,150 from the classified union.

As of Friday, she was trailing incumbent Jeanie Corral by fewer than 100 votes for the second seat and the race remained too close to call.

In the Temecula Valley Unified school board race, the teachers union backed Chuck Campbell, who finished fourth, according to semifinal results. The union's political action committee gave Campbell $5,000.

Campbell, who also had the support of the classified employees, said the endorsements gave him confidence in the race, cementing his belief that he was the right person for the job.

"I was very proud to be endorsed by the teachers and employees," he said. "The outcome wasn't what we wanted."

Staff writers Imran Vittachi, Melissa Eiselein, Sandra Stokley, Dayna Straehley, Erin Waldner and Michelle L. Klampe contributed to this report.

Reach Melanie C. Johnson at 909-806-3069 or mjohnson@PE.com

UNION CLOUT

Inland school districts where candidates backed by teachers unions won school board seats in Tuesday's election include:

Rialto: Joe Martinez, Michael Ridgway

Moreno Valley: Tracey B. Vackar, Rick Sayre

Corona-Norco: Jose Lalas, Cathy L. Sciortino, Michell Skipworth

Jurupa: Sheryl Schmidt

Hemet: Lisa DeForest, Charlotte Jones

Val Verde: Stacey L. Guzman

Lake Elsinore: Susan Scott

Beaumont: Mark Orozco