Doug Racine, a longtime Chittenden County state senator and former lieutenant governor, has chalked up a second union endorsement in as many days — this time from the Vermont-NEA, the powerful state teachers union. Sunday, the Vermont AFL-CIO announced that its 27 affiliate unions would back Racine.
Racine is one of five Democratic gubernatorial candidates running in the Aug. 24 primary.
Martha Allen, president of Vermont-NEA, made the announcement Monday in Montpelier as she stood with Jill Charbonneau, acting president of the federated labor unions.
Allen described Racine as a “zealous” supporter of the state’s 300 public schools.
“He’s the only candidate who doesn’t see the schools as the problem or school spending as the problem that is driving the state’s fiscal challenges,” Allen said. “Doug has pledged to stop the eight-year assault on public schools. … He will reverse the current administration’s penchant for pinning the state’s problems on working Vermonters in general and on public employees in particular.”
Allen not only pledged her organization’s fealty to the Racine campaign, but also declared that the union’s members, which number 11,500, would “put boots on the ground in every corner of the state.” Joel Cook, a lobbyist for the union, told reporters that in every election cycle, 200 to 400 Vermont-NEA members canvas the state for candidates.
That kind of grassroots volunteerism matters more than usual this year, because voters are faced with choosing between Racine, Peter Shumlin, Matt Dunne, Susan Bartlett and Deb Markowitz – all of whom have extensive experience in state government and politics. All also share many of the same points of view on labor issues, the economy, and energy and the environment.
Like the Vermont AFL-CIO, the teachers’ union made the unusual move of backing a primary candidate. In the past, both unions have thrown their support behind a candidate in the General Election.
“We decided to get our 2 cents in early and make sure the best candidate gets to the election,” Allen said.
In his acceptance speech, Racine said: “Part of what makes me different (from the other candidates), besides the fact that I’ve beaten Brian Dubie (in a 2000 race for lieutenant governor, in which Racine was the incumbent), is the fact that I have the endorsements and support of grassroots organizations in Vermont who will bring the strength of their organizations to my campaign, and that’s going to make me a stronger candidate throughout the primary, and it’s going to make me a stronger candidate come general election time.”
Eric Davis, a Middlebury College professor emeritus of political science and long-time observer of state politics, said the Vermont-NEA endorsement may have a significant impact on the primary. Backing from the teachers’ union in particular can be translated into votes, he said, and in a year when the primary turnout is expected to be very low, it will be public sector workers who make or break the election. Davis predicts about 60,000 voters will go to the polls on Aug. 24, and he expects a 50 percent to 75 percent turnout from union members.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if 10 percent of the voters were from Vermont-NEA,” Davis said.
The Vermont-NEA endorsement of Racine, however, won’t narrow the field of candidates before the primary, Davis said. He doesn’t expect any of the Democrats to drop out of the race.
Racine opposes school mandates
Racine criticized Gov. Jim Douglas’ repeated assertion that the state needs to cut education spending. Douglas wanted the Legislature to mandate a threshold for student-to-teacher ratio levels because the state’s student enrollment has been dropping significantly over time. Since 1997, the number of students in Vermont has declined by 13 percent, according to a report from the Department of Education. Douglas has said the state’s average student-to-teacher ratio of 11 to 1, which is the lowest in the nation, should be increased to 13 to 1.
Racine adamantly opposes such a mandate and derides the governor’s attempts to hold school spending costs down by using state-imposed spending caps.
“It’s reducing the discussion of the quality of education to a mere numbers game, and to me that’s the wrong approach,” Racine said. “The governor’s been trying this top-down approach for the last eight years, and it hasn’t accomplished anything except to put people in two armed camps. And that’s not the way we create good public policy in our state.”
Local school boards are dealing with declining enrollments, he said, by making changes in staffing.
“Teachers and communities are acknowledging these issues, and they’re sitting down together, and they’re working through those issues,” Racine said.
When asked if he would eliminate the $7 million in small school grants, which are distributed to about 100 schools around the state, he said he had created the grant program when he was lieutenant governor.
“The small school grants are instrumental in helping small schools stay alive,” Racine said. “And what you see when you go into those small schools is community spirit.”
Reaction to the endorsement
The other candidates downplayed the impact of the unions’ support for Racine.
Dunne said he came in as a close second for the endorsement and described Racine as a “long and steady supporter of organized labor for the past 30 years.”
“I’m honored to have been so strongly considered for the endorsement and to be receiving such clear support from both committee members and teachers around the state,” Dunne wrote in a statement.
Bartlett, who described herself as a moderate, said she didn’t expect endorsements from unions because she supported, in 2007, what is known as the “two-vote provision,” a requirement that school boards hold two budget votes if their spending rates in a given year exceed the rate of inflation, one for the base budget, the second for the amount above the inflation rate as set by the state. Racine voted against the two-vote provision.
Racine’s union support, Bartlett said in an interview, “is not going to have any impact on my campaign at all. I didn’t expect, getting into a five-way race with a lot of much more liberal candidates than myself, to get any endorsements from unions. … I’m giving people in the middle a choice.”
Shumlin, in his statement, addressed the general electorate. “I am thrilled at the support I am receiving from Vermonters across the state,” Shumlin wrote. “Every day I hear from hard working men and women, including teachers and union members, who are excited about my candidacy for governor. My focus remains on talking to as many Vermonters as possible about why my experience of bringing people together to get tough things done make me the candidate that will be able to jumpstart our economy and get Vermonters working again.”
Shumlin also supported the two-vote provision for local school budget-setting in 2007.
Markowitz emphasized that though she didn’t win the endorsement, she has the support “of hundreds of teachers across the state,” because she has visited “almost every school throughout Vermont.”
“One of the reasons Vermont is a great place to live, work and raise a family is because of our public education and quality teachers,” Markowitz said. “I will work with our teachers and parents to maintain support for our K-12 system and bend the cost curve to make education more affordable. Sen. Racine has been in the legislature for 30 years and has built a relationship with the union leadership.”
Video footage follows.
