Electoral Apple for Teachers

There were many winners in last Tuesday’s special district elections in Orange County but the biggest one by far seems to be the teaching profession.

The victory is not so much in the large number of teacher-backed candidates elected by voters but in the support for teachers expressed in the ballot box.

Although the turnout was disappointingly small, the voters throughout the county who did go to the polls showed that support by accepting the many candidates who carried the endorsement of the teacher unions over others, including incumbents who traditionally have a built-in reelection advantage.

The success of the teacher-endorsed candidates surely can be attributed to the campaign efforts by teachers and the sparse turnout. But there was another factor involved. As a union survey four years ago showed, voters want to know how teacher associations feel about candidates and such information plays a “very important” role in helping voters make up their minds.

Teachers play a vital part in the educational process and they should be considered key partners in educational decisions made by district boards. That, however, has not been the case in many districts and teachers have long sought more voice in determining educational policies and programs. Tuesday’s election should help give it to them in Orange County.

That doesn’t mean that teacher groups, as Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton ) irrationally puts it, will control all school boards throughout the state. Dannemeyer, after the elections, charged the California Teachers Assn. with pursuing that goal.

Board members elected with teacher backing will no doubt be much more receptive to the input from teacher groups. So, we suspect, will other trustees who are aware of the confidence voters seem to place in the opinions of teachers and the growing political influence their organizations have demonstrated.

But newly elected board members backed by teacher groups should not automatically be considered pawns of the teacher unions or sure votes for them.

School board members, teacher-supported or not, represent all factions in the district and must be able to demonstrate a broad perspective and open mind in approaching all issues if they are to retain public confidence. That was the message voters sent school boards in Tuesday’s election.