Tuneout vs. Turnout
How is it that teachers’ unions can spend so much money and devote so much energy to get-out-the-vote efforts for any kind of election except their own?
The election for the presidency of the Washington Teachers Union included candidates with truly different views on policy, who genuinely disliked each other, and who had opposing positions on the DC teachers’ contract. AFT national HQ was heavily involved, and the campaign received steady press from the Washington Post, which means national attention.
The results? A runoff, after only 881 votes were mailed in from an estimated electorate of 4,200. The 21 percent turnout was actually pretty standard for union elections. Check out some past figures from Los Angeles, Colorado and elsewhere (item #6).
If gaining the support of 12 percent of eligible voters is enough to get you elected president of the DC or Los Angeles teachers’ union, one wonders why more people don’t take a whack at it.
