Union's school board candidates ace California races |
The California Teachers Association bet big on this year's state school board races, distributing $1.8m to 125 local affiliates. That investment seems to have mostly paid off, with union-backed candidates leading in 35 of the 52 races in which the state union spent the most money. The biggest winner was Rocio Rivas, running for a seat on the Los Angeles Unified School District board, to whom the union contributed more than $330,000. The union supported Shana Hazan and Cody Petterson with $145,000, and they won seats on the San Diego Unified board. In Sacramento, $123,000 in state teachers union spending helped Tara Jeane, Jasit Singh and Taylor Kayatta complete a clean sweep of school board races. In much smaller school districts, even a little spending had its effects. The union has only 39 members in the Placer Hills Union School District, but a $1,500 infusion helped two candidates to victory. The Big Pine district has only 155 students, but it now has two union-backed school board members.