46th AD Race has morphed into a Democratic Great Debate on Public Education

 Charter School Executive and 46th AD Candidate Brian Johnson. (** Backed by Charter Schools advocates)

CD 2 City Councilman Paul Krekorian Chief of Staff and 46th AD Candidate Adrin Nazarian. (** Backed by the California Teachers Association)

Funny what happens when an obscure, redrawn assembly district race becomes "Ground Zero" in the inter-party debate among democrats on the future of public education in the State of California (and state republican officials are "almost gleeful" as the LA Weekly's Hillel Aron reports in this week's piece on the 46th AD "Great Education Debate").

With five days remaining to Election Day (with the odds good on both Nazarian and Johnson coming in first and second), we bring you the latest spin that is quickly replacing the spam in our bloggin email accounts. Enjoy!

WHY IS CTA OPPOSED TO BOTH GETTING DANGEROUS TEACHERS IMMEDIATELY OUT OF THE CLASSROOM AND ELECTING AN EDUCATION REFORMER TO THE STATE ASSEMBLY?

San Fernando Valley, May 30th, 2012 – The California Teachers Association yesterday publicly opposed SB1530, a bill to immediately get sexual predators and other teachers guilty of egregious misconduct out of the classroom. The same day that the CTA attempted to kill Senator Alex Padilla’s legislation, the union reported spending approximately $400,000 asking Valley residents to vote against Brian Johnson.

“I'm beyond baffled by CTA's priorities. SB 1530 is a no-brainer to me. (** that is why Johnson set up this online petition of support, good electioneering) As a former classroom teacher, I know that our children’s safety at school should be our first priority. Let’s stand up for our good teachers and get rid of the dangerous ones that put our children at risk and give our profession a horrible name," Brian Johnson said.

If SB1530 had already been a law, LAUSD could have immediately dismissed Mark Berndt, the Miramonte Elementary teacher who has been charged with 23 counts of lewd acts against children ages 7 to 10.

“The union knows that my strong support for reforming our public schools will put an end to the strong-arm tactics they employ to protect predatory teachers who should no longer remain in the classroom,” Brian Johnson said.

This week alone, CTA spent approximately $180,000 on an ad buy for television commercial full of misinformation implying that Brian Johnson is in support of vouchers and privatizing public schools.
 
"I believe in the promise of public education, and have spent my entire career fighting for it. In no way, shape, or form, am I for vouchers or privatizing public schools," Brian Johnson said. "For the 90% of the issues we agree on --  smaller classrooms, more professional development, more use of teachers’ voices in schools and school districts, and a richer curriculum beyond standardized tests -- I will fight harder than any other candidate in this race. It seems ridiculous that they are willing to resort to this smear campaign just because I will not back down from two issues: supporting all types of schools and creating a comprehensive teacher evaluation system."

........ more surely in the days ahead.

Your thoughts ..............

Scott Johnson in CD 14