Teacher-Backed School Trustees

Lest the voters be concerned that teacher-supported candidates are union automatons with no voice, I would like to speak out for my 20% teacher-supported membership on the Huntington Beach Union High School District Board of Trustees.

Essentially, I wish to twit The Times for its obvious obsession with reminding the public that it is electing candidates supported by teachers as though they may present a public danger on a level with toxic wastes and nuclear meltdowns.

Were The Times to send its reporters to Huntington Beach High School District board meetings for something other than sensational news such as school breast-reduction court suits or divisive discussions on matters that range from high school closings to drug busts on campus, they would find the voters in Huntington Beach, Westminster and Fountain Valley have elected a Board of Education that has finally gotten the proverbial horse before the cart. Teachers’ salaries are now comparable to those in the upper echelons of the blue-collar world (not professionally competitive yet, but we’re working on it), class sizes have been significantly reduced and the education of young adults is on the front burner of board meetings (rather than teacher sickouts or sleep-ins that draw reporters like vultures).

With that bit of salutary “grousing,” I should say “enough said,” but I want to remind The Times that it appears bent on initiating voter alarm and seemingly inviting political partisanship into nonpartisan matters. Shame on The Times!

JERRY L. SULLIVAN

Board of Trustees

Huntington Beach

High School District