School Board Race – Torrance Teacher Association Questionnaire

The Torrance Teachers Association (TTA) was founded during the first year of operation of the Torrance Unified School District (TUSD) in 1947. It is among the oldest local chapters in the State of California and now has close to 1,100 members. According to TTA’s website, the primary function of the Association is to provide a means for collective action because “as a group we are more powerful and can accomplish more than as individuals.”

The TTA recently wielded that power to negotiate a Collective Bargaining Agreement with TUSD that included a 4.36% across the board salary increase with a retroactive payment back to July 1, 2014.

Through the organization’s Political Action Committee they endorse and provide funds to local candidates for the TUSD School Board. In order to receive their endorsement, the TTA recently asked interested candidates to respond to the following questionnaire.  How should I respond?

• With the impending retirement of the Baby Boomers and the dwindling numbers of candidates in colleges of education, TTA believes that recruitment of highly effective educators is a priority.  What do you propose the Board of Education do to attract the best and brightest new hires to our district?

• Once highly effective recruits are hired and trained, TTA believes the issue of retention becomes paramount.  TUSD has invested large sums of money toward professional development, so how will you, as a Board of Education member, protect that investment?  How would you work to stop the revolving door effect where your newly trained educators leave TUSD for more security, higher pay, and better working conditions in neighboring districts?

• TTA believes teachers are the professional experts in the classroom, and while we agree administrators share the professional responsibility of educating our students, we believe that administrators should be held to a high level of accountability for supporting teachers and the educational program the way teachers are held accountable for classroom rigor.  If elected, how will you seek out teachers and teacher leaders to ensure that both teachers’ and administrators’ expert voices are heard and given equal consideration before making your Board of Education decisions?  How will you hold district administrators accountable for how they work with faculty, staff, parents, and students in informing their site-based decisions and supporting the learning environment?

• Academic freedom is defined as the freedom for teachers, working within state education code and standards, to allow students to ask questions and to communicate ideas/facts, even if unpopular, without being targeted for retaliation, censorship, disciplinary action, and/or job loss.  TTA believes in protecting academic freedom to maintain the integrity of the academic environment and promote critical thinking among faculty and students.  What importance, if any, do you place on the concept of academic freedom as it relates to teacher evaluations, curricula, test scores, and the ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act).

• TTA believes that the Board of Education has an obligation to balance the needs of the school district and the needs of the students’ learning environment/teachers’ work environment.  How would you approach collective bargaining in light of the need to reconcile the needs of administrators with the needs of students and teachers?

• What, in your view, makes your candidacy for the Board of Education viable?  What are your campaign plans? Why should the Torrance Teachers Association support you?