Dean Vogel, state teachers union president, visits Dunsmore Elementary School

The president of the California Teachers Assn. visited Dunsmore Elementary School on Tuesday to read to a group of second-grade students as part of Read Across America, a national literacy effort.

Dean Vogel started his education career as an elementary school counselor with the Vacaville Unified School District in Solano County before rising through the ranks to head one of California’s most powerful unions.

He visited with students at the La Crescenta school, and later with Glendale teachers at Toll Middle School in South Glendale, at the invitation of union’s local chapter.

“It is an honor for him to visit and see first-hand the great work our teachers do in this award-winning, high-achieving district,” Glendale Teachers Assn. President Tami Carlson said, adding that it was good to hear from Vogel personally about “the war on unions that threaten[s] to silence our members politically, which we depend on to advocate for student needs.”