School Superintendent Testifies in Support of Union Busting Lawsuit

Emery Unified School District Superintendent Debbra Lindo, now on unexplained leave, provided testimony last fall in support of a Los Angeles union busting lawsuit tying teacher pay to student test scores and giving unelected and unaccountable administrators dictatorial power in firing of teachers without due process, the Tattler learned.  The suit, Veraga vs California, bankrolled by Silicon Valley tycoon David Welch seeks to break teachers unions, leaving schools to draw from less professional grade instructors willing to work for non-living wages.   Ms Lindo filed a declaration on October 30th Emery teachers said, in support of the lawsuit and David Welch, a deep-pocketed billionaire ideologue without educational experience.

Debbra Lindo
Willing to give succor to
 anti-teacher ideologues in 
Los Angeles but not available 
to talk with Emeryville 
parents and citizens. 

Ms Lindo was not alone in her testimony in support of the lawsuit.  Former Emery Superintendant Tony Smith also provided testimony as did Republicans from up and down the state that teachers must be disempowered "to defend children's fundamental right to have an equal opportunity to access public education", attorneys representing the case said.

 The California Teachers Association said of the lawsuit, "It will make it harder to attract and retain quality teachers in our classrooms and it ignores all the research that shows experience is key factor in effective teaching.  The lawsuit further destabilizes the teaching profession, targeting the very rights that help keep teachers in the profession in the long haul."

The testimony disempowering teachers provided by Ms Lindo and the support of her over the last two years by the School Board has caused some to question if there is a (not so) hidden agenda in place.  The Board, the public agency responsible for selecting Ms Lindo, noted the vetting process in her selection was extremely rigorous after the very public embarrassment in their selection of Stephen Wesley, a 2008  Emery superintendent pick who had padded his resume and wound up in the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle.

The trial is to begin on January 27th in Los Angeles.

Ms Lindo could not be reached and no one from the School District, including the School Board would comment for this story.