ORANGE — The conservative slate of candidates for the board of Orange Unified School District charged Wednesday that labor unions, militant liberals and "homosexual activists" are trying to take over the large district in the Nov. 4 election.
"Over the last four years, the school board majority, which represents the interests of this conservative community, wrested control of the school board and gave it back to the parents," incumbent board President Martin Jacobson said. "Now the labor unions are trying to take it back."
That was the opening volley at a news conference by the conservatives to denounce their challengers for accepting backing from what they said are forces outside the district: the California Teachers Assn. and its local union; county Democrats; and a coalition of other groups called Kids First for Education.
Jacobson, who campaigned in 1993 wearing an electronic surveillance bracelet after blocking an abortion clinic entrance in an Operation Rescue action, said he is concerned about any political action committee that includes gay-rights advocates because "they want teachers to portray homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle, and that is not appropriate."
One of the main targets of the morning attack was the Orange Unified Education Assn., which represents teachers in the sprawling district that serves 29,000 children in all of Orange and Villa Park, and parts of Anaheim, Santa Ana and Garden Grove.
Members of that group said the conservative candidates are not limiting their support, either, to local parents and neighbors. They pointed out that the conservative slate--Jacobson, Kathy Ward, Linda Davis and Terri Sargeant--used the news conference to announce their endorsements by state Sen. John Lewis, Assemblyman Bill Campbell and the influential Lincoln Club, Orange County's conservative Republican organization.
Suzanne Vaugine, president of the teachers union, said of Jacobson: "He's panicking. He's pulling Halloween dirty tricks with things he thinks will inflame the community. He doesn't seem to have an issue. He's just bashing groups of people."
One observer of the highly charged campaign said Wednesday that throwing out charges at the last minute is hardly new.
"It's a standard ploy that's called sly innuendo," said Fred Smoller, a political science professor at Chapman University in Orange. Of the conservative slate's comments, he said, "It's a modern-day version of Red-baiting. They're trying to discredit individual candidates by tying them to larger movements in our society that are unpopular."
