Unhealthy alliance between teachers union and locally elected officials

The Washington Post reports:

The Unhealthy alliance between the teachers union and locally elected officials in Montgomery County made a cameo appearance last year on the national stage. It promptly bombed. The incident was an embarrassment for the county and an object lesson in how far both sides -- politicians and the union itself -- have drifted into the politics of entitlement, intimidation and ethical corrosion.

The episode involved Bonnie Cullison, then chief of the teachers union, who decided to seek election to the policy-setting executive committee of the National Education Association, which represents teachers nationally. Ms. Cullison needed to raise money to pay for travel, mailings and other campaign incidentals. The usual thing would have been for her to seek contributions from teachers in Montgomery and elsewhere, among whom she has plenty of contacts. But Ms. Cullison went a step further: She hit up Maryland state legislators, particularly those the Montgomery teachers union had endorsed, asking them to contribute as much as they could.

Many lawmakers quickly obliged, dipping into their campaign accounts to finance Ms. Cullison's campaign, until the state attorney general's office blew the whistle. In an opinion, the office concluded the obvious: that funds donated to a Maryland politician's campaign are not intended to finance a national union's internal election. The Maryland State Board of Elections ordered Ms. Cullison to refund the several thousand dollars she'd raised from politicians, which she did. She lost the election.

Ms. Cullison is a well-regarded figure in local education circles. But if this incident seems odd and unseemly, that's because it is. The NEA confirmed to us that it's exceedingly unusual, if not unheard of, for candidates for leadership positions to solicit funds from public officials.

You'll want to read the whole editorial.