Dear Editor,
With less than a week until the election, I wanted to take the time to address the very important school board and parcel tax measure elections here in Culver City. As many focus on a very important national race, the interesting, important & confusing ballot propositions and a hot city council race, please let us not forget about two very important down ballot races.
After two weekends of canvassing for CCFT’s endorsed candidates and Measure O in addition to seeing a few mailers people have shared with me and the bombardment of social media posts, I am disappointed to say there is certainly a lot of misinformation out there in the community. At the last Board of Education meeting, I spoke about these misinformation and whisper campaigns that I hear about both canvassing and that I am seeing pop up in various social media spaces.
All three candidates running for school board are parents who I beleive are running with the absolute best intentions to make CCUSD schools the best public schools in our area. I have had great conversations with all three candidates and I don’t see any of them using this office as a way to push their own personal agendas, politicize the office or springboard it into a better political career. I think all three see a golden opportunity with solid new leadership under Dr. Lucas to finally steer the ship on the right course because it has been headed toward the iceberg for quite some time. In this election, CCFT is supporting Lindsay Carlson and Andrew Lachman. We feel these are the candidates who best understand the issues facing CCUSD right now. They understand why the staff morale is so low. They understand why there are trust issues with the community. Lindsay and Andrew for over a year and a half have been listening in on board meetings, speaking to staff and speaking to the community. Both Lindsay and Andrew have been part of parent organizations at their schools sites, both participated in the bond feasibility groups, both supported the bond but also understood the union’s position of wanting to wait until the fall election to gather more support.
What the district and board needs now are board members who will hold the district accountable. This is a must and there is nothing wrong with wanting accountability. For far too long that did not happen. We also do not need people who will always agree. Respectful disagreement and dissent are healthy ingredients to any democracy. One of the things I most admired about former board members Dr. Tashon McKeithan and Ms. Summer McBride was the fact they asked the tough questions, did not always agree with the majority and were not afraid to make a vote 4-1 or 3-2. Mr. Brian Guerreo has also shown that same principle when he voted against a budget in a 4-1 vote because it did not meet the 55% threshold for in classroom spending at the time. McKeithan, McBride and Guerrero were not obstructionists but were upholding their duty to question something when it seems wrong and this is why they received wide praise from our members. Ms. Carlson and Mr. Lachman have continually proven to us in their campaigning that they believe in accountability and will be there for both students, families and staff and truly understand that staff working conditions are student learning conditions.
The renewal of the CCUSD parcel tax, now known as Measure O is also vital to CCUSD and the new Board. Measure O is not a new tax as some have falsely claimed but simply an eight year extension of the current $189 parcel tax that brings in roughly $2.5 million to the CCUSD general fund. It has wide support from all five sitting city council and board members, every candidate running for city council or school board, both CCUSD employee unions, the Culver City Chamber of Commerce, both local Democratic clubs, LA County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO and the California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO. It has two wonderful chairpeople Meredith Johnson and Mila Moraga-Holz working hard everyday for its passage. Although it has no organized opposition, what we need to worry about is complacency. Let’s not assume because it has so much broad support that it is a slam dunk. Many of the people who talked up a storm on the bond measure have been largely silent on Measure O and that needs to change over this last weekend. Please be sure to support Measure O.
We urge the voters in Culver City to support their teachers, school counselors, school nurses, program specialists, and inclusion facilitators, as well as LA County and California Labor Unions by voting for Lindsay Carlson and Andrew Lachman for Culver City School Board and Yes on Measure O!
Thank You,
Ray Long
President, Culver City Federation of Teachers
AFT Local 1343, AFL-CIO
