Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Did CTA Lawyer Beverly Tucker miscalculate?

The teachers of California deserve better legal representation than they are getting from the California Teachers Association. Teachers pay millions of dollars in dues, so CTA could afford top-notch lawyers. The problem is that the union is run by cronies, and perhaps the top crony is head legal counsel Beverly Tucker.

Cronyism has caused CTA lawyers to live in an isolated world into which reality is not allowed to intrude.

Even when these lawyers make serious miscalculations about what they can get away with, there aren't any leaders in CTA who can demand that the law be followed. The problem is that the lawyers have more power than the "leaders"! In a bizarre move, Beverly Tucker not long ago added the title of "Associate Executive Director" to her title of head legal counsel.

In my experience, nominal executive director Carolyn Doggett takes instruction from Beverly Tucker, not the other way around.

It appears that Beverly Tucker is the Dick Cheney of CTA, the real power behind the president, the real decision-maker. Unlike the President of the US, however, the president of CTA, Barbara Kerr, is not elected by the people she governs. She is chosen by a voice vote of the board of directors of CTA.

California Teachers deserve better representation.

Beverly Tucker and her cronies need to be thrown out, and be replaced by leaders who have respect for teachers and for the law.

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