Teachers rally against Quintero

GLENDALE ? It was only one in a string of yes-or-no questions, but a simple yes from Glendale City Council member and state Assembly candidate Frank Quintero has teachers from both Burbank and Glendale up in arms.

When candidates running in the 43rd Assembly District were asked at the Glendale Homeowners Coordinating Council panel discussion Monday if they supported school vouchers, Quintero said, "yes," opposing a long-held position by the California Teachers Assn.

Later in the forum Quintero revisited the issue.

"I am a reform candidate and I am interested in anything that's going to challenge the status quo," Quintero said.

But Quintero, a Democrat, said Friday he is, "unequivocally against school vouchers and I always have been."

Union officials, however, have reacted strongly to the comments made on Monday.

"We were stunned," said Burbank Teachers Assn. Co-President Kim Allender, who helped organize a news conference planned for 9 a.m. today in front of Quintero's Glendale headquarters at 440 W. Broadway, where Burbank and Glendale teachers association members plan to condemn Quintero's stance.

Before the comment was made, most teachers assumed Quintero was against the vouchers, Allender said.

"We assumed that as a Democratic candidate he would oppose vouchers," he said. "It's an absolute litmus test for a Democratic candidate."

A school voucher program would allow parents to use state education funds to pay for tuition at a private school.

Voters shot down a statewide initiative in 2000 that would have given families a $4,000 voucher per student to enroll in a private school.

Quintero is competing against Paul Krekorian in the Democrat primary in June. Republican Michael Agbaba and Libertarian Steve Myers are also vying to represent the 43rd Assembly District, which includes Burbank and Glendale.

The California Teachers Assn. has endorsed Krekorian. The Burbank and Glendale teachers associations are the local arms of the state association.

"We see vouchers as a way of draining funds from public education," Allender said.

Quintero, who was tired after a long day of campaigning, thought he was commenting on inter-district transfers and not vouchers, said Phil Giarrizzo, Quintero's campaign manager.

"This is an outrage that they will try and destroy the record of the strongest education advocate in the state," Giarrizzo said. "We'll be glad to welcome them to headquarters and I hope, after hearing the truth and the facts, that they will be walking precincts for Frank Quintero."

Quintero has presented his stance against vouchers on several documents well before Monday's forum, Giarrizzo said.