Posted on 04/20/2006 12:07:35 PM PDT by calcowgirl
SACRAMENTO – The reappointment of state Education Secretary Alan Bersin to the state Board of Education was confirmed by a Senate committee yesterday, despite union opposition stemming from his years as head of San Diego schools.
The California Teachers Association and the California School Employees Association, which represents non-teachers, urged the Democratic-controlled committee to reject Bersin because of his legacy in San Diego.
“During his reign in San Diego his leadership style was extremely divisive,” Lyssa Sassman of the CTA told the committee. “It divided the community. It hurt teacher morale, and it did not significantly improve student achievement.”
The Senate Rules Committee voted 4-0 to confirm Bersin to a new four-year term on the 11-member Board of Education appointed by the governor, which carries out education policies set by lawmakers.
Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, calling Bersin a successful reformer, took the unprecedented step in April 2005 of appointing the Democrat as his cabinet-level education secretary and also to fill the remainder of a term on the education board, which expired this year.
A full-page ad in the Sacramento Bee yesterday paid for by several San Diego CSEA chapters mistakenly said that Bersin was up for confirmation as education secretary, which does not require legislative approval.
“The Legislature can save our schools by refusing to confirm Alan Bersin as Secretary of Education – the worst choice possible,” the newspaper ad read.
Jai Sookprasert of the CSEA told the Senate committee that Bersin dismissed nearly 1,000 instructional aides in San Diego.
Bersin told the committee there was evidence the aides were ineffective and that their dismissal allowed $32 million to be shifted to programs such as teacher learning and classroom libraries.
The aides were offered other full-time jobs with the district or through the county, Bersin said. Still, he said, firing them was his “most difficult decision” as superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District.
Former state Sen. Dede Alpert, R-Coronado, who had chaired the Senate Education Committee, spoke in support of Bersin yesterday. Bersin also received support from current Senate Education Chairman Jack Scott, D-Pasadena, and Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell.
>> The Legislature can save our schools by refusing to confirm Alan Bersin as Secretary of Education – the worst choice possible <<
Don't you love hyperbole? I'm pretty sure, for instance, that everyone agrees that the Columbine shooters would have been a worse choice.
Anyone know what this guy did to froth the mouths of the teachers' unions so much? Oppose bilingual education?
Certainly the most intreguing news in California politics surrounds Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's reappointment of Joe Nuñez to the State Board of Education earlier this week. You see, Nuñez is a State VP with the California Teachers Association -- and according to the CTA's President Barbara Kerr, Nuñez is actually in charge of their union's legislative and political activities. Yes, this would include the massive assault on Governor Schwarzenegger and his reform agenda on last year's special election ballot. Even better -- Nuñez is actually the Chairman of the Alliance for a Better California, which is the actual front-group formed by the unions to fight the Governor.It has been postulated in at least one newspaper that Schwarzenegger may have re-appointed Nuñez in order to shepherd through the confirmation vote on his former State Education Secretary Alan Bersin, whom Schwarzenegger also appointed to the State Board of Education last year. Once appointed, you can serve up to a year without Senate confirmation, which Bersin has yet to get. As a matter of fact, his one-year is coming up soon.
I don't know if this theory is correct, it might explain a little about Nuñez's re-appointment. But COME ON. The idea of extending the time that a union boss who wants to perpetuate the problems that we have in California's education system has to serve on the state's education board is atrocious. The Governor should withdraw this appointment immediately. Frankly, Bersin's appointment isn't worth it. Apparently it takes a 2/3 vote of the State Senate to confirm members of the State Education Board. The Governor should appoint real education reform advocates like Lance Izumi or Gloria Matta Tuchman.
There is a bunch of stuff on this thread about Bersin (articles, political contributions, etc).
He seems like the perfect lefty, to me.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1393799/posts
Well, he definitely is a Democrat. But that doesn't answer my question at all: Why do the teachers' unions hate him?
It sounds like he made the unforgivable mistake of eliminating union jobs because they were a waste of money.
Jai Sookprasert of the CSEA told the Senate committee that Bersin dismissed nearly 1,000 instructional aides in San Diego.
Bersin told the committee there was evidence the aides were ineffective and that their dismissal allowed $32 million to be shifted to programs such as teacher learning and classroom libraries.
Even in their press release, the Unions don't claim he didn't improve academics.
The unions don't represent the best interests of the students.
The unions do what represents the union's best interests (not necessarily what's in their membership's best interests).
Unions get very upset when their membership gets reduced which effects their power and cash flow.
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