War of words between Fresno Unified, teachers union has gone on long enough | Opinion

The school year has come to a close and summer beckons, meaning there is no better time for the tempers to cool down between the Fresno Unified School District and the Fresno Teachers Association.

The district and its teachers’ union have been waging a harsh war of words for much of the past year, largely around the hiring of a new superintendent. The school board engaged a long process for making that hire, then chose its own interim superintendent for the top administrative job, over the opposition of FTA and one board member.

Here are two undeniable facts: The board ended its 15-month search by picking Misty Her to be the new superintendent of California’s third-largest school district. The FTA needs to accept this reality.

Conversely, the FTA remains the union for Fresno teachers. Her and other district officials must work with the union. This, too, is the reality.

As parents tell misbehaving youngsters, both sides need to make nice and learn how to work together.

Misty Her and FTA spar

Two recent incidents show how poorly the relationship between the sides has become.

In late April, before the superintendent hire was to be made, the FTA posted on its Facebook account a satirical “Superintendent salary showcase showdown.” With a depiction of a game show stage, viewers were invited to “guess the new superintendent’s annual salary.” The person closest to the actual number would win a $100 gift certificate.

“Sometimes you need to lighten the mood,” the union said in introducing its post.

The union intended to be whimsical. But the post was in poor taste, given the serious issue of hiring a new superintendent. It undervalued Her, not to mention the life experience she brings to the job.

Starting her educational career in Fresno Unified as a bilingual instructional aide, Her worked up as an elementary teacher, vice principal, principal, assistant superintendent, instructional superintendent and, finally, the district’s permanent superintendent. She is the nation’s highest-ranking Hmong K-12 educational professional.

Her said the post caused her problems in the community. “I didn’t think that was funny, and the reason why I didn’t think that was funny was because that post caused things to happen to me in public, where people were coming up to me, physically putting hands on me and referencing the post,” Her told ABC 30.

She then directed her communications director to compile a list of social media posts that Her said FTA put out to target her.

The result was a document made with the help of artificial intelligence. Quotes attributed to local news sites, including The Bee, were actually generated by AI.

Her admitted to the use of AI to create the false portrayals, but said the overall point was correct — that the union had been unfairly going after her in its public comments.

The union denied that charge, and said in a Facebook post this past week that Her’s explanation showed lack of accountability and raised new questions of trust.

District, union must work together

Board Trustee Genoveva Islas summed it up well in a Facebook post she made on May 1. “Misty Her is our superintendent. Degrading her as she starts her role achieves nothing in promoting student achievement. FTA are valued partners, and we need them to get us on the right track.”

She goes on to point out how immigrant students were not going to school over deportation fears; how LGBTQ students were faced with hatred simply over their orientation; and how the Trump administration was suing to end an enrichment program designed to improve the learning of Black students, who have underperformed in testing for years.

Add to that Fresno’s longstanding poverty, which puts most Fresno Unified families under stress. Of the district’s with 70,000 students, 88% live below the poverty line, and only 35% and 25% meet grade-level standards in English and math, respectively.

The challenges are indeed many. Fresno Unified leadership, from the board to Her and top administrators, must join FTA in the coming school year in a joint crusade to educate Fresno’s children to the best of their abilities.

For the union’s part, instead of just regularly criticizing the district, how about finding something positive to say, possibly even of administration? That could do wonders for the relationship.