Julie Shankle – Torrance Teacher Association President
Torrance Teacher Association (TTA) President Julie Shankle’s name will not be on the ballot in the upcoming School Board election, but it might as well be. Make no mistake, a vote for Don Lee or Terry Ragins is a vote for Julie Shankle and the TTA.
Bolstered by a war chest accumulated through forced union dues, the TTA has poured hefty sums into the School Board race. The incumbents have used that money to churn out lawn signs and a steady stream of mailers nearly all of which have prominently featured Julie Shankle.
Julie Shankle has been more visible than the incumbent candidates themselves constantly posting on social media and even somehow managing to be highlighted in a recent Daily Breeze article about the candidates.
I thought my opponents in the School Board race would be the other candidates, not the TTA. I was naïve. As the son of a teacher, and someone that has had nothing but good things to say about teachers in the district, I actually even thought that the TTA and I would be natural allies in the fight to ensure our kids are the top priority. I was wrong.
As evidenced by my platform, I got into this race because I saw big issues within the District that concerned me. Our current Board is accused of entering into illegal contracts and is currently fighting a lawsuit that could return $109 Million to the District instead of keeping it in the pockets of the bond contractors. The victims of the wrestling coach are claiming the District knew about complaints against this coach and turned a blind eye. Kids were also seriously injured in an unprotected crosswalk and the District’s emergency response tools failed in the wake of the Exxon explosion contributing to it taking an hour for many school sites to shelter-in-place. I thought the TTA and I would be on the same side on these issues. I was foolish.
I wanted to work together to address these concerns and bring about positive changes for our kids, instead the TTA has made me their primary target and fought me every step of the way.
During one forum, they messaged out on Facebook, “Fireworks are already flying with Paulson calling us (TTA) a union special interest who doesn’t represent kids”. That is not what I said and I have the audio recording to prove it.
In another post they accused me of using, “ugly innuendo, name calling, and fear mongering.” They also insinuated that instead of seeking input from stakeholder groups that I have rained innuendo and insults at them to score cheap political points and that I failed to “acknowledge that our teachers and our union work hard for the children in Torrance, and that children ARE our special interest.”
Later I saw another Facebook post from TTA displaying uniformed police officers shutting down a union meeting and insinuating that my successful election would result in similar chaos. Frustrated by this barrage of attacks, that I felt were either outright false or completely unfair, I fought back.
I commented on the TTA Facebook page noting that TTA’s own ethical guidelines state that the “educator shall not in an application for a professional position deliberately make a false statement … and shall not misrepresent his/her qualifications.”
I then inquired how TTA reconciled its purported belief in their ethical values with their support of a candidate who apparently has no problem making false statements about his accomplishments. This was after Don Lee put out a mailer falsely claiming that he implemented a program to fingerprint all campus visitors and that he is the only candidate endorsed by the Republican party.
TTA promptly deleted my comment. I then wrote another asking why they deleted my comment and wondering what happened to the principles of academic freedom (which the TTA defined in their questionnaire as the allowance to ask questions, and to communicate ideas/facts, even if unpopular, without being targeted for retaliation or censorship) they supposedly espouse.
TTA’s response to that was to quickly delete the comment and ban me from their Facebook page so I would not be able to ask any more such questions. This despite the fact that I have welcomed Julie Shankle to comment on my Torrance Town Hall page and allowed her to do so on numerous occasions without censorship.
TTA has extolled their members to talk to their parents, family, friends, and neighbors to spread the word and “send a message to the challengers that vision and ideas matter.”
I ask the voters what vision and ideas have the incumbents offered? The incumbents have no websites and no platforms. How would you know what their ideas were, even if they had any? Terry Ragins Facebook page is actually littered with little more than selfies in front of school sites. What type of vision and ideas does that represent?
The incumbents have let the TTA do all the talking for them during this campaign. Why would that change if they got elected again?
Julie Shankle is not on the ballot, has no kids in Torrance schools, and does not even live in Torrance. Yet, she and the TTA are spending a lot of money in a bid to control our schools. Why?
This Tuesday voters in Torrance will determine if they want to allow Julie Shankle and the TTA to maintain control of our schools and how the District allocates hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.
What will they decide?
In an effort to fight climate change and curb greenhouse gas emissions, the Council will hear on Tuesday a recommendation from the Environmental Quality and Energy Conservation Commission to approve the Energy Efficiency Chapter of the City’s Climate Action Plan (EECAP).