Restless
Growing increasingly dissatisfied during his years on the sidelines, Mr. Balibreras platform appears to be a harder line approach to raises and benefits for the 350 union members.
Voting will mirror the model followed each year when the new labor contract is ratified. Balloting will be conducted separately on each campus.
No Debate
The union president, Mr. Mielke, said a planned debate between the two had to be called off because of a personal circumstance.
Mr. Balibreras maiden run for office may have been foreshadowed by an event a year ago last September.
In the opening days of a new school term, Mr. Balibrera organized a group of fellow Middle School teachers to take what some union members regarded as a bold step.
Long Drought
The Balibrera group met with this newspaper to publicly protest the fact they had been denied salary raises for four consecutive years.
Critical of the School District for allegedly making teacher pay a low priority, the group blamed the Teachers Union for failing to pursue raises with sufficient ardor.
Mr. Balibrera was not the most outspoken of the four, but he did fault the Teachers Union for contributing to teacher apathy. After awhile, he said, (teachers) see that nothing is going to be done by other teachers or by their union. So they go back to their real interest, the classroom.
Contenders Assertions
The School Districts priorities were in disarray, according to Mr. Balibrera.
This District needs to plan first for teacher salaries, he said. Everything else comes later, the lawyers, the consultants, the assistants to the superintendent. All of these people should be taken care of, but only after the teachers have gotten a raise.
Incumbents Platform
Five days before Election Day, Mr. Mielke is running hard to retain his office.
He loves his job, and he hopes to keep it by convincing union members that he has served them honestly, fairly, transparently, and put money in their pockets that another person might not have won for them.
He was in campaign mode when he spoke yesterday afternoon.
Almost three months after winning a 4 1/2 percent boost for the Teachers Union in bargaining with the School District, the president felt boastful.
Culver City Rates High
Mr. Mielke said the most recent Los Angeles County data show that except for Santa Monica, Culver City teachers lead other similar sized districts Beverly Hills, Manhattan Beach, Torrance, Palos Verdes and El Segundo in both salary maximum and benefits.
I think we have done a great job under impossible circumstances, Mr. Mielke said.
Difference in Tactics
Characterizing his opposition, the president said that the other side believes in being more aggressive, being confrontational.
If that is what the teachers want, they will vote for Mr. Balibrera. But if they want the adults to be in charge, they will vote for the status quo.
Meantime, as Tuesdays balloting approaches, the Teachers Union continues to huddle with School District officials over the disposition of $750,000 that turned up in District coffers days after the annual contract was approved.
Empty Session?
Meeting for 90 minutes on Tuesday at District Headquarters, little, from the unions viewpoint, was accomplished.
I was disappointed, Mr. Mielke said. The District showed up with a bunch of charts showing how broke they are. Our concern is that they want to keep these (series of) meetings on an informational basis and not a bargaining session.
If we can just come to some kind of agreement, we will be sensitive to the fact they may not have much money to shower on us.
The ball, as I have said before, is in their court.
The next meeting is Monday, June 11.
