Fairfield Taxpayer: Should Teachers Union Endorse Candidates?

Fairfield Taxpayer urges everyone to consider carefully whether it is in the best interests of our town for public-employee unions to try to influence our local elections, and to thereby gain political influence over the elected officials they endorse.

Fairfield Taxpayer believes the teachers union should advocate strongly for the best interests of its members at the bargaining table, and it should participate actively in our deliberations over public policies and priorities, particularly on education issues.

READ MORE: Fairfield Teachers Union Makes Board Of Finance Endorsements

However, the teachers union should not get to choose who is sitting on the other side of the bargaining table when their contracts are being negotiated. And they should not get to choose the members of the governing bodies that must decide what Fairfield can afford to tax and spend, and how that money should be allocated in the best long-term interests of the town.

Some background

This is not the first time that the teachers union (aka, Fairfield Education Association) has inserted itself into local politics, and it is not the first time that Fairfield Taxpayer has questioned whether it is constructive for the union to do so. The union has previously endorsed candidates for the Board of Education — yes, the same board with which the union negotiates the teacher salaries and benefits that determine almost half of Fairfield’s total spending every year. The union was also very active in the 2016 effort to change political control of the Board of Selectmen by forcing a special election after a Republican resignation (an effort that succeeded until it was subsequently reversed by the Connecticut Supreme Court). At that time, Fairfield Taxpayer said as follows:

“Bob Smoler [president then and now of the FEA] wants us to elect people who are beholden to him who will continue to approve generous wages, benefits and work rules for his union members and who will spend as much as possible on education.”

“In his own words [from an email Mr. Smoler sent to his members on Dec. 22, 2016]: ‘Our new contract will be coming up for a vote this fall ... The Democrats will put up a very pro-education candidate ... The person [elected] is going to hold tremendous sway over the next two teachers’ contracts and the next three education budgets ... We need to do whatever we can to help the Democrats ...’ "

In his latest endorsement of three Board of Finance candidates, Mr. Smoler claims, based on several inaccurate and flawed assertions, that “our schools can no longer be squeezed financially.” Yes, those would be the same Fairfield schools for which spending has risen 27 percent since 2014 with enrollment down 9 percent, resulting in a 40 percent increase in per pupil spending and a 4.3 percent compound annual rate of increase. Mr. Smoler seems to believe that there is never a valid reason to restrain education spending (currently two-thirds of our total spending), an absurd proposition that none of his endorsed candidates is likely to agree with. Without spending and taxing restraint, it is only a matter of time before everything we love about Fairfield will be at risk, including our great schools.

Bud Morten

Fairfield Taxpayer

Fairfield Taxpayer is a non-partisan volunteer organization focused on public policy issues in Fairfield and Connecticut.