Wilson Is Lampooned at Teachers Union ‘Boot Camp’

In surgeons’ masks and gowns, the top four leaders of the 253,000-member California Teachers Assn. hover over a gurney. Then they prepare to operate on a sheet-draped, body-shaped lump labeled . . . “Gov. Pete Wilson’s clone.”

“We’ll have to give him a brain transplant,” says one of the mock surgeons, “assuming he has one.”

The “operation” featured association President Lois Tinson, Executive Director Carolyn Doggett, Vice President Wayne Johnson and Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Kerr. It was a highlight of a videotape that capped a weeklong political boot camp, held at UCLA, for 600 leaders of the nation’s largest state teachers union.

The union and Wilson are bitter enemies from battles over teacher tenure, merit pay, union dues, school vouchers and--annually--how much to spend on education. Wilson has labeled the union the “relentless political machine.” The response? The union has celebrated the phrase, displaying it on huge banners at meetings.

Another fight is shaping up this fall. The teachers association, and other education groups, oppose the Wilson-backed Proposition 8, which, among other things, would establish powerful, parent-dominated councils to oversee each school.

“Do you think this will work?” one of the officers asks during the mock operation.

“We’ll have to wait until November to find out,” replies Tinson.