Banning School Board Candidates Quizzed About Local, State Unions

Candidates for the Banning Unified School District board were asked at a forum this week to discuss how they view unions in general, and the unions that represent Banning teachers and other school employees.

The seven hopefuls, Alfredo Andrade, Alex Cassadas, Ray Curtis, Deborah Dukes, Larry Ellis, Maxine Israel, and David Vanden Heuvel, are running for three seats on the district board in the Nov. 8 election.

Andrade, Cassadas, Curtis and Ellis have been endorsed by unions.

The forum Sunday afternoon at First Missionary Baptist Church was moderated by Banning teacher Troy Sheldon.

Sheldon asked the candidates a total of seven questions or prompts. For reports on the first three prompts and candidates' responses, click , and .

The fourth prompt Sunday was "Please state how you feel about unions in general, and specifically about Banning Teachers Association and the California School Employees Association."

Israel, a parent, was selected to respond first:

"I think the union is good. The teachers need somebody who's going to stand up because obviously parents . . . they have to have somebody other than parents.

"Our teachers, our bus drivers, librarians, they all need somebody who's going to stand up and open their mouth. Because obviously, they've tried, I saw they've gotten nowhere.

"I'm a parent. I got nowhere. . . . I like unions. I think they're great."

Curtis, a retired administrator, responded:

"Each member of the BTA or CSEA has the right to a representative, and at times may have to call upon them . . . And if the district comes in line with what they're supposed to be doing as far as employee salaries and discipline and layoffs, so this is structure.

"Without those situations it would be a free-for-all and people would be demoralized more and unable to function effectively. So unions are necessary.

"Unions are doing their part to bring attention to areas of concern. An area of concern, no confidence in the superintendent, now all of a sudden people are demoted and transferred.

"A person goes to a board meeting and speaks up, all of a sudden he's removed from class. They need protection. Unions are there to help the teachers, and teachers then are able to help the students. . . .

"One of the things I'd like to see is the negotiation process not be prolonged. I'd like to see a multi-year contract.

"I think with my abilities outside Banning and my experience in other districts, Mr. Van, I can bring that back because there is life outside Banning, there are a lot of good projects, one happens to be very close to us, but I've been in six districts across the state of California and I've seen what works and what doesn't work.

"People make it work. We need unions to work together with the district office."

Dukes, an incumbent Banning Unified School District board member and its current president, responded:

"I think unions are meaningful, unions are great but unions have to work with the district, with the school board, with the superintendent. And everything should not be villified that happens from the D.O. office, and everything that happens with the union should not be great or grand or right.

"They have an agenda, D.O. has an agenda, everybody has an agenda. But we have to put those agendas aside.

"I truly, truly believe that everybody has said something negative about each other and I just don't think unions should bully in order to get their way. They have a lot of money, that's good, they're fine, and we can work with unions, yes we can.

"And like I said, unions are great. I was in a union every job I worked at, with the county of San Bernardino, everywhere, I was part of the union.

"But still just because you are union, and you say this is going on, people please get both sides of the story. Thank you."

Cassadas, a child care worker, responded:

"Let me tell you about a teacher that works at Banning High School . . . the AVID coordinator, AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination. It's a college prepatory class, that I was a part of and which got me through college.

"Because he was going against what the superintendent said, and because there were certain issues that were going on, they told him to leave with pay. And so he's on a paid leave right now.

"The students who are currently there are struggling. And the only thing that helps him keep his job and help him make sure he's paid, are the unions.

"What happens is the only thing the boss wants, they want more low wages, they want less certain benefits they have to pay out, but these benefits are there to make sure they have a good quality of life. And that's what every American deserves, whether it's BTA or CSEA, is a decent quality of life because they're there at the school, every single day, educating our children, making an impact on their lives.

"And we need to make sure that they're comfortable and that they have a safeguard, so that they don't get into conflict with superintentendent or the administration, and that's currently what's going on.

"Unions are necessary. They need to be able to protect and act as a safeguard so that people aren't attacked, because when you don't have a union, nobody's there to speak up for you and you have to worry about yourself.

"What the union does is unify people, gives that unity that we look for in Banning. As Mr. Curtis said, this helps to protect due process, because without a union people will get trampled over. . . . .

"What the union does, another positive, it allows the teachers to focus on what's more important, the students."

Vanden Heuvel, a retired teacher, responded:

"I don't think it's appropriate to mention any teacher's name by name, especially one who's involved in situations with the district. That's inappropriate. As a board of trustee member I would never do that in public.

"I know he's defending the gentleman, but still. There's two sides to everything and we need to find out what it is.

"I thought for a long time the NEA, the National Education Association, was a block for teacher reform. It seemed like, you know, you could use cocaine as long as you weren't doing it in class.

"The local association however . . . has been a positive in my eyes. Like the original IWW, what those forest guys, the guys who were cutting down the big trees wanted, they wanted a bathroom. A clean bathroom with toilet paper.

"The local union's not asking for anything except a contract. The local folks are positive in my life.

"Let me give you an example, I always thought being a good teacher was enough. I was Mr. Van, man, I got compliments from people, students all over all the time.

"I thought, 'Oh that's all I need.' My test scores were, you know, some of the highest in the state of California. Then I found out in the last few years somebody comes along who doesn't know you, competence is no protection.

"The only thing that protected me was our union contract.

"Asking for everybody to communicate doesn't work if when someone says something they get punished for it. Bullying doesn't come from the employees. The custodians don't bully the superintendent.

"Bullying, like sexual harrassment, comes from above. People in positions of power that can do something to you.

"Custodians: 'Oh I'm not going to pick up that paper. Nyah, how's that?' No, that's not the way it's been going.

"I'm sorry. We need a change in the school board. We need one that's open. Teachers in my life, teachers are committed to students. Take care of them."

Ellis, a retired science teacher, responded:

"My family history is strong union support. My grandfather in the '40s and '50s was a UAW organizer. I remember being 7, 8 years old, he'd take me around to the shops and he'd talk to the men and so forth in Los Angeles.

"My dad was a representative for the harbor steam plant for the Department of Water and Power.

"I taught at St. Paul High School for three years when we tried to organize, form a union there, and we weren't able to the L.A. archdiocese. We would go in and talk to the Father Ryan the principal, and we would negotiate my salary.

"I had worked there three years and I was one of the highest paid teachers there. Across the hall, where the teacher had worked there 15 years, and I was making over a thousand dollars more than he was, because I negotiated better than he did. That isn't right.

"Unions are definitely important. Ok, obviously everyone needs to be treated fairly.

"Bad teachers. Good teachers do not like bad teachers. They do not protect bad teachers. Ok. They want'em out. They make us look bad. But teachers don't hire teachers. Administrators hire teachers and administrators have to do their job so that they can get rid of them."

Andrade, a "para educator" or paraprofessional school employee, responded:

"Unions are a great tool for employees. I am a classified employee. . . . The union is to protect the jobs of its employees. It is also to make sure their employees are not afraid of retaliation when they speak up.

"And they also want to be treated with respect. As a board member, I will make sure that I know the union contract, I will know the district policy, I will know education code, so that our students can have the best possible education.

"Because bullying starts at the top. The district . . . comes from the top. If we can stop this from the top, then we wouldn't have any conflict with the unions and we'd have a great working environment in this district."

The California School Employees Association, the classified school employees union that represents more than 210,000 school support staff in California, has endorsed Andrade, Cassadas and Curtis.

The Banning Teachers Association, the union that represents more than 200 teachers in the Banning Unified School District, has endorsed Cassadas, Curtis, and Ellis.

Banning Unified School District serves about 5,000 students in a 300-square-mile area, from kindergarten through 12th grade, according to the district's web site.

The district includes four elementary schools, two middle schools, one comprehensive high school, and one continuation high school.

Banning Unified is one of the largest employers in the San Gorgonio Pass, with about 450 employees.

The revised district budget as of Sept. 2, 2011, was between $35 million and $37 million, which included total projected revenues of $35,005,383, total projected expenditures of $36,717,196, and a deficit of $1,711,813, according to board meeting minutes.

Stay with Banning-Beaumont Patch this week for more from the candidates' forum Sunday at First Missionary Baptist Church.

The next scheduled forum starts at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26, at Johnny Russo's Italian Kitchen, 1335 W. Ramsey St., Banning.