Fresno Unified School District trustee Carol Mills received an important endorsement for reelection from the Fresno Teachers Association last week.
Mills has served Area 5, which includes Fresno High School, since she was first elected in 2004.
The Fresno Teachers Association is the principal union representing teachers in Fresno Unified.
Once upon a time, the union and Mills weren’t exactly on the same page.
In 2012, the union backed her opponent Andrew Doris in an effort to oust multiple board members. However, the endorsement didn’t seem to sway any voters since Mills won in a 37-point landslide.
Four years later, FTA backed Mills when she ran unopposed.
“I’m very proud to have FTA’s endorsement,” Mills said on Monday. “I feel that I have always supported our classroom teachers, and even at the time that FTA did not endorse me, I had teachers in my region out working for me and supporting me.”
Mills
“It’s important. We are an educational system, and the teachers are on the front lines, so to speak, so I think it’s important to hear their voice about who they feel is doing a good job, and who they feel is supporting what they need in order to get the job done.”
The move by Fresno’s teachers union is usual given that the election is in November.
However, it may owe to Mills’ stature on the board. She is currently the longest-serving veteran on the Fresno Unified School Board, having been elected in 2004.
Aside from the teacher’s union, Mills also received endorsements from the Fresno Police Officers Association, the National Association of Letter Carriers (Branch 231), the National Women’s Political Caucus and the Mexican American Ladies Society PAC.
