A former member of California’s largest teachers union alleges the group pressured her to drop out of a local school board race.
Jyl Lutes, a former teacher and Salinas councilmember who now lives in Campbell, said California Teachers Association representatives called her several times in June urging her to quit the race for the Trustee Area 3 seat on the Santa Clara County Board of Education. The union, which represents 310,000 teachers statewide, is backing current trustee Don Rocha, a former San Jose councilmember and the only other candidate in the race.
“I got several phone calls from them telling me, ‘Just drop out of the race — we’ll help you next time.’ One of the CTA staff called me and said, ‘If you drop out of the race we’ll find you another seat to run in,’” Lutes told San José Spotlight. “I’m not interested in holding just any office. I wanted to be on the county school board for a reason.”
She said one call in July came from Rick Wathen, a former union employee. Lutes alleges Wathen asked her if he could tell Rocha she was dropping out of the race. Wathen denies it.
“I had never said that at all. I asked what her plan to win was,” Wathen told San José Spotlight. “I told her that I know Don and I also know who’s supporting Don. I told her I didn’t think she was a viable candidate. I did have a conversation with Jyl and gave her the lay of the land and what I knew of the race.”
Lutes, who taught public school for 25 years and was a dues-paying union member, said the CTA wouldn’t even give her an interview for a potential endorsement. In emails between the union and Lutes reviewed by San José Spotlight, a union representative said Lutes’ May 20 request for an interview for the endorsement came too late, as they had already picked Rocha. The emails show the union first contacted her about a possible endorsement on May 16.
Lutes said she holds the California Teachers Association in high regard — but the calls gave her an impression the union views local races transactionally. She also questions why the endorsement process happened months before the candidate filing period opened on July 15.
“That obviously favors the incumbent and certainly would not favor teachers,” Lutes told San José Spotlight.
Rocha — whose children have attended school in the county’s districts — said he’s proud to have the union’s endorsement. The former Cambrian School District board member said his first endorsement interview with the union was May 8.
“Different organizations stage their endorsements at different points of the election season. I think it’s for (the union) to answer in terms of the timing of their endorsement process and why it’s set when it is,” Rocha told San José Spotlight. “I was contacted to participate and was more than happy to get the endorsement. The teachers are the ones with the most credibility in terms of recognition of the importance of the school board role.”
Wathen said the California Teachers Association does its endorsements in early spring to send the message that it has picked a “good advocate.”
“Don was a good advocate,” Wathen told San José Spotlight. “That’s what happened. Jyl was late to the date.”
Rocha was appointed in 2022 to fill a vacancy after San Jose Vice Mayor Rosemary Kamei won her council race. He competed with three other candidates, including Lutes. Rocha was also chief of staff for state Sen. Dave Cortese when he was a Santa Clara County supervisor until 2020, when Rocha left to work for Valley Water as a supervising program administrator.
The teachers union has independently spent $5,000 in support of Rocha this year, with $1,000 going to voter data and $4,000 going to pro-Rocha mailers, according to campaign finance filings.
Besides the teachers union, Rocha is endorsed by the Santa Clara County Democratic Party and the South Bay Labor Council.
Lutes is endorsed by Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Susan Ellenberg, the East Side Teachers Association and former Board of Education President Claudia Rossi, who termed out of office in 2022.
Rossi said she’s concerned about the union’s endorsement process.
“The concern I have is not directed at the CTA as a whole. It is directed at the individuals that sought to coerce a candidate into not running for an office which she was profoundly qualified to serve,” Rossi told San José Spotlight. “The endorsement of CTA — to those of us that respect and support teachers — is fundamental. Why wouldn’t this teacher be endorsed by her union?”
Rossi said Cortese chose not to endorse Rocha this year despite supporting Rocha’s 2022 appointment.
A spokesperson for Cortese said Rocha did not reach out to him for his endorsement. But Rossi said Cortese asked her to relay his decision to Santa Clara County Democratic Party members during party endorsement votes in September.
“He did not share why. He said two things: ‘You’re free to share I will not be endorsing Don. You’re also free to share I’m considering joining Supervisor Ellenberg in endorsing Jyl,'” Rossi told San José Spotlight. “That was the end of the conversation. I haven’t spoken to him since.”
Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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