Let’s start with a famous quote attributed to a longtime president of the American Federation of Teachers: “When schoolchildren start paying union dues, that’s when I’ll start representing the interests of children.”
I am a grandmother living in Carlsbad and have spent more than 10 years working in the Poway Unified School District. My children’s school years are behind them. Thankfully. However, I am concerned about the direction of education in California and feel compelled to speak out about our children’s future and the importance of learning basic skills.
I just received a four-color attack ad in the mail, paid for by unions, against Gretchen Vurbeff, and I am really disturbed. The accusation was that she voted against a teacher pay raise. The Carlsbad Unified School District was facing the layoff of 37 teachers.
Isn’t it better to retain as many teachers as possible rather than give a raise to those remaining? Context is everything. Californians everywhere are facing higher costs, and the state government keeps asking for more. When 9/11 hit, the higher-paid people at the company I worked for took a pay cut.
We have witnessed the power and misuse of money in our state. Do we want parents involved in overseeing our children’s education or unions that dump thousands of dollars — $130,000 this year alone — into school board races to get “their people” elected?
Traditionally, unions were formed to negotiate salaries, benefits and working conditions. Unions are now trying to control what our children are being taught, including culture change rather than an emphasis on basic skills.
Do you want trustees loyal to the union negotiating teachers’ salaries and setting the curriculum, or do you want parents to evaluate and direct our children’s education? A longtime CUSD trustee, who is now retiring, received $200,000 as an employee of the teachers’ union. How do you think she voted on salary negotiations? We do not need trustees who owe their allegiance to the unions.
Gretchen Vurbeff is a parent and currently the only trustee who is willing to go up against the unions. I have attended the meetings. They go on forever, and $400 a month is totally inadequate compensation for their service, which requires hours of outside preparation to fully understand the impact of their decisions.
We need to reelect Gretchen Vurbeff in Area 4 to keep fighting for our kids.
Maril Adrian is a Carlsbad resident.
