The day after the Carmel Teachers’ Association announced it would make an endorsement in a school board race for the first time in its history, the two candidates not receiving the union’s support questioned whether the endorsement was permitted under school policy.
Teachers unions elsewhere have long endorsed political candidates. But in CCS, district policy 9700.01 states that “no one may use his/her involvement or position in a school-related organization to promote his/her own or any other candidacy for public office.” CTA and Carmel Clay Schools officials said the union is separate from CCS, and thus not required to follow district policy, but candidates Robin Clark and Dina Ferchmin disagree.
In a Sept. 13 mass text sent to voters in Carmel, Clark and Ferchmin stated that candidates Kristina Wheeler and Jon Shapiro “shamelessly accepted support from school-adjacent political organizations, violating school policy and furthering their political crusade.”
“This is not just a breach of rules; it’s a direct threat to the integrity of our education system,” the text states. “We must put an end to this political interference and restore our schools to their core mission: providing a strong, foundational education. It’s time to fight back and ensure our children’s education isn’t hijacked by political agendas.”
Clark and Ferchmin have received public support from the Hamilton County Republican Party and are endorsed by Carmel Excellence, a political action committee that “supports common sense conservative school board leaders and teachers who will help our schools build a strong academic foundation,” according to its website. Wheeler and Shapiro have not made their political affiliations part of their public campaigns.
Christopher Lubienski, director for the Center for Evaluation & Education Policy at Indiana University, said it’s common for teachers unions to endorse political candidates, and he has not heard of any other situation where a union’s decision to make an endorsement has been questioned.
“(In this case), it appears that any controversy here comes down to the definition of a ‘school-related organization,’” Lubienski said. “I’m not sure if or how CCS classifies the union in that regard. But unions are not governed by their district, so it seems like there is some level of independence there.”
CCS Director of Community Relations Emily Bauer said CTA is an independent organization and separate entity from the district.
“The district cannot interpret our policies to govern or restrict the CTA’s activities without conflicting with well-established legal precedents,” she said. “These precedents protect labor unions and their leadership under the First Amendment, which guarantees the rights of free speech and association.”
CTA President Mark Wien said although the union and CCS work closely together, the union is “free to function as we see fit” as long as it adheres to state campaign law.
CTA members were asked to vote online on whether they supported the union publicly endorsing Shapiro and Wheeler. Of the 307 CTA members who responded, 286 voted in favor, while 21 voted against it. CTA has approximately 850 members representing approximately 80 percent of CCS teachers. The endorsement required a supermajority of support from more than two-thirds of those who voted.
Wien said he had numerous conversations with CTA officers and other union members during the past two months about the endorsements.
“Through the conversations with the officers and the board, it was abundantly clear that any CTA endorsement would be for Shapiro and Wheeler,” Wien said. “I asked for feedback from the officers, board and the building contacts before making any final decisions to ask the CTA members what they wanted to do. I did not present an explicit option to teachers asking if they wanted to endorse anyone else. At that point in the process, that decision had been made. Of course, teachers were free to vote no on the question of endorsement.”
In the Sept. 9 email sent to CTA members explaining the vote, Wien stated he spoke with all the candidates before recommending an endorsement and explained why the union chose to publicly support candidates for the first time.
“Historically, the CTA has not endorsed school board candidates. When we adopted this policy in 2017, it aligned with the political climate. At the time, school board races were run on small budgets and without political affiliation. And at the time, the CTA believed that anyone running for CCS school board only had the best intentions for the district and the community,” the email stated. “It is a different time now, and teachers do not have to look very far to see what happens when a school district has a school board that does not have the teachers or the district’s best interests, interests at the heart of every decision.”
Clark and Ferchmin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
