Eastin Criticizes School Official for ‘Communists’ Comment

State schools chief Delaine Eastin has given a sharp rap on the knuckles to the Westminster school board president for name-calling on the playground of politics.

And what was Michael J. Verrengia’s offense? He referred to the state’s bilingual education staff as a “merry bunch of communists” at an April school board meeting.

Eastin, mum at first, has sent Verrengia a tartly worded letter threatening to sue if he repeats what she considers a slanderous remark.

“The term ‘communist’ is not only irrelevant to issues involving children’s education, it is highly unprofessional in any context,” Eastin wrote in a letter dated June 20.

Verrengia, who has declined to apologize while conceding that he made a poor choice of words, said Tuesday that he would not comment on the letter.

Elected to the school board in 1994, Verrengia has been a frequent critic of California’s bilingual education system. In 1996, the 9,000-student Westminster School District won a precedent-setting waiver of state requirements that allowed it to stress teaching English to children who are not fluent. That waiver will be reviewed by the state next fall.

Verrengia’s comments came in April 17 in discussing a proposal to reform bilingual education law. A transcript quotes him as calling the staff a “merry bunch of communists” and a “merry band of commies.”

Eastin spokesman Doug Stone said letters such as hers were not a “common occurrence.”

And, he added: “I’m not a communist.”