By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org
    
WAUSAU, Wis. – Local teachers unions across the nation have made an art form out of manipulating school board elections in their favor.
    
They are known to draft, endorse and openly campaign for candidates that support the union agenda. They are very good at getting out the union vote for their favorite candidates, which is usually quite effective in elections that draw few voters.
    
The idea, of course, is to elect a friendly school board that will cooperate with the unions whenever possible, particularly at contract negotiation time.
    
But did the Wausau Education Association step over the line when planning a recent school board candidate forum?
   
There are three incumbents and one challenger running for three positions on the school board, according to a story published by WAOW.com. The president of the school board, Michelle Schaefer, was emailed a copy of the questions that would be asked at the forum, and three other board members ended up with copies.
    
Those board members – Dale Lawson, Theresa Miles and June Rusch – are the incumbents seeking another term. Their lone challenger, Matthew Young, did not receive a copy and dropped out of the forum.
    
Another school board member, Patrick McKee, learned about the situation at a Monday school board meeting. He reacted by calling on four fellow board members (the three candidates plus Schaefer) to resign from the board due to unethical behavior, according to the Wausau Daily Herald.
    
Union President Jeff Berkley admitted that the questions were emailed before the forum, which is not standard practice, according to the news report. Berkley said he found out about the email after the fact, but he declined to reveal who sent out the questions and why.
    
The questions were scrapped before Tuesday’s candidate forum, but Young still declined to participate.
    
Young later said he accepts the union’s explanation that the release was accidental.
    
“But Michelle Schaefer, and the other board members, at least from what I understand, knew that they had something they shouldn’t have. I don’t know how you could trust them again.”
    
We think Young may be too forgiving of the union. Our suspicion is based on Berkley’s refusal to give details about who released the document and why. We also know from experience that teachers unions will often stoop to any level to get their way, particularly in matters involving collective bargaining and politics.
    
 In any case, we support McKee’s call for the resignation of the four board members. They clearly knew they shouldn’t have the questions in advance, but none apparently spoke of it until McKee blew the whistle.
    
Young is right. It would be difficult to trust them again.