The purpose of the Teal Movement is to create an organization of SCUSD parents and other concerned citizens to promote and protect the interests of students in the same way that SCUSD unions do so for teachers and other workers.
Teal is committed to the wellbeing of our students and parents, an interest that is inherently non-partisan.
The extended school closures and remote learning that occurred in the SCUSD during the pandemic, largely ineffective in slowing Covid’s spread, resulted in substantial learning loss, and profound negative mental health effects, especially for poor students and students from marginalized backgrounds. Just as students were recovering, the teachers’ strike in the spring of 2022 only exacerbated these harms.
Parents had no power to protect their children from these harms. This is because the structure of public sector collective bargaining in the SCUSD specifically excludes parents from any meaningful role in the process.
Furthermore, the viability of public sector collective bargaining critically depends on denying the existence of a number of fundamental rights and interests recognized by the United States and California Supreme Courts, including:
The Fundamental Right of Parents to Direct the Care, Upbringing and Education of Their Children (1)
The Fundamental Right of California Children to an Education (2)
(1) Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510, 535 (1925); Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205, 213-214 (1972).
(2) Serrano v. Priest, 5 Cal. 3d 584 (1971); Butt v. State of California, 4 Cal. 4th 668 (1992).
Empowering Parents to Protect Their Children’s Best Interests
Collective bargaining in SCUSD specifically excludes parents from any meaningful role, leaving them with no power to protect their children's interests when they conflict with the interests of union members.
Teal seeks to empower parents and other concerned citizens by making them a real political force in the SCUSD. This requires educating ourselves to understand how public sector collective bargaining works in general, how it has played out in the SCUSD historically, and how and why parents have been excluded from the process.
Teachers’ Strikes Create Negotiating Leverage by Depriving California Students of Their Fundamental Right to an Education
Teachers’ strikes are effective because they create negotiating leverage by depriving students of something that is essential to their well-being: their education, which the California Supreme Court has declared is their fundamental right.
California Public Unions: Myth v. Fact
Myth: California public unions are entitled to special privileges in the collective bargaining process to compensate for their vulnerability and weakness in the face of public employers.
Fact: the political power of California public unions is so comprehensive and far-reaching that they have essentially achieved the status of a cartel.
California public unions effectively control and command the loyalty of the Legislature, the Governor’s office, the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), and even the California judiciary. Simply put, California pubic unions are one of the most powerful political forces in the history of the State of California, rivaled only by the railroads at the turn of the 20th century.
Contact
Feel free to contact us with any questions.
Email
mark@tealsacramento.org