Thread: Major Union pulls Enorsement from anti immigration activist

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Union rethinks support
Candidate's views on immigration an issue
Charlotte Hsu, Staff Writer
Article Launched:10/22/2006 12:00:00 AM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO - A major union is considering withdrawing support from a school board candidate after members expressed concern about the man's immigration views.
Joseph Turner, an anti-illegal-immigration activist, had won the local chapter of the California School Employees Association's endorsement, along with incumbent Teresa Parra and challengers Rhonda Early and Amanda Jacobs.

Other candidates vying for four San Bernardino City Unified School District board seats in the Nov. 7 race are incumbents Antonio Dupre, Lynda Savage and Elsa Valdez and challenger Louise Ayala.

Steven Holt, chief job steward for the employees association, said the decision to revisit the Turner endorsement came after the union received "a flood of e-mails" from members concerned about Turner's views.

Turner has said, if elected, he would work to eliminate the distribution of district materials, including notices for parents, in Spanish.

He also said he would use a school board position to challenge a Supreme Court ruling requiring schools to educate all children in the U.S., including those who are not legal citizens.

Parra told the union last week she would refuse its endorsement if it also supported


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Turner.
Parra said she believes Turner would not advocate for Latinos and noted that if the district eliminated bilingual programs, workers represented by the employees association - such as translators and Spanish-speaking secretaries - would lose their jobs.

The employees association represents 2,500 classified school workers who aren't required to have a teaching credential.

Turner has said ridding the district of bilingual programs would encourage more parents to learn English,which he sees as a vital step to success in America.

He said his fight is against illegal immigration, not against Latinos, and that he would be in favor of educating students who were citizens even if they were the children of illegal immigrants.

Turner said if the employees association withdrew its endorsement, he would still support employees and push for fair district hiring.

That's why the union endorsed him in the first place, Holt said - the support did not take into account Turner's immigration views, but was based on his desire to advocate on behalf of school workers.

But given the number of members complaining about the Turner endorsement, the union has contacted its regional office to find out what steps it would have to take to pull support from Turner, Holt said.

Although not all union members voted in the initial endorsement proceedings, they could have.

Holt added that it is probably too late for the union to endorse another candidate in Turner's place.

Turner said he was surprised by the union's sudden about- face, since his immigration views are well known in the community.

He said that in a candidate forum the union hosted, he made clear his anti-illegal-immigration stance.

"I don't understand how this could all of a sudden be an issue," Turner said.

When making its endorsements, the employees union cited a desire for change.

Ken Holt, president of the union chapter and brother of Steven Holt, said union members feel the current board does not respect classified employees enough.

He said he receives frequent complaints about unfair hiring and promotions in schools, and that many workers want hiring functions such as recruitment and interviewing transferred to a personnel commission that is separate from the district.

After a months-long dispute with the district over the appointment of a new commissioner, the current Personnel Commission, which ratifies district hiring, finally met last week.

But Ken Holt said a resolution the board passed earlier this month was an insult to classified staff. The resolution would have authorized the school board and superintendent to take over the commission's hiring powers if the commission did not agree to meet.

"It was a slap in the face," the union president said. "We're looking for a change right now."

Another major union in the district, however, the San Bernardino Teachers Association, has endorsed all four incumbents.

Linda Whitaker, president of the teachers' association, said the board has worked well with teachers in recent years.

She said members on the board have experience and are familiar with the district.

"Those four incumbents are helping us make moves in the right direction," she said

Turner has said ridding the district of bilingual programs would encourage more parents to learn English,which he sees as a vital step to success in America.

Huh?...what a racist! How dare he insist on acclimating to the American culture and language. He is obviously a bigot.

God forbid if they assimilated.

Originally Posted by DavidWidman

Turner has said ridding the district of bilingual programs would encourage more parents to learn English,which he sees as a vital step to success in America.

Huh?...what a racist! How dare he insist on acclimating to the American culture and language. He is obviously a bigot.

God forbid if they assimilated.

Exactly, right on David!!!

Enough catering to other languages. Enough!!

The union is only after their own interests and this is obvious. The union doesn't want people to loose their jobs as it is less money for them.
As for catering to other languages, being multilingual, I can honestly say it is the Hispanics that get catered to the most. I don't see much in my languages besides immigration offices and immigration court. Maybe its because they come here and learn to speak English.

Joeseph Turner is the one that present the Ordinance to San Bernardino City Coucil on banning landlords from renting to illegals. It was rejected by the council.
But one good part of it is, Turners proposed ordinance is were Hazelton, Pa. picked up on the idea.

This is good news for Joe. Joe will get more publicity out of this endorsement now that they want to take it back.

I hope Joe wins this one.

W

Parra said she believes Turner would not advocate for Latinos and noted that if the district eliminated bilingual programs, workers represented by the employees association - such as translators and Spanish-speaking secretaries - would lose their jobs.

This just goes to show that no matter what the voters think they've voted for, they will be ignored by the government and unions every time if they disagree.

We voted to eliminate bilingual education in California years ago and we won with 61% of the vote.

Of course, this means nothing to the powers that be.

Parra said she believes Turner would not advocate for Latinos and noted that if the district eliminated bilingual programs, workers represented by the employees association - such as translators and Spanish-speaking secretaries - would lose their jobs.

And these people are on our public tax doles?

Then I wouldn't consider losing their endorsement a major issue.

Parra said she believes Turner would not advocate for Latinos....

Is it not the mission of a local school board to advocate first for the students, then for the staff, irregardless of the ethnicity of either group? Is it not the mission of the school board to concern itself with what is best for the schools under its jurisdiction? Apparently not anymore. The new litmus test for any public office seems to be whether or not any candidate will pander to Latinos, all other issues and all other people be damned.

As far as bilingual (or multilingual) education and materials from any government entity, either we educate and communicate in one language (English) or we educate and communicate in all of the several hundred languages that may be represented in any school, community, or nationwide. Those whose native language is Spanish should have no special right to bilingual education or language accessibility over other immigrants.