By Mikaela STONE

Tse’s priorities for his candidacy are “making sure that our students graduate from our district with high academic achievement and strong social skills, as independent and critical thinkers, ready to be productive members of our democracy … within my platform, the first [step] is inclusion and racial and social justice. So to me, this means protecting our LGBTQIA+ children, our children of color, our children with special needs, prioritizing increased green spaces, environmental justice, moving away from punitive [punishment] systems towards evidence-based restorative and positive approach, properly funding our special ed services, prioritizing our dual-language immersion programs.”

Question CVW: Given the realities of the current school board climate, what do you realistically believe you can accomplish if elected in your first term?

Answer Telly Tse: “First and foremost, I think what is important to me is making sure our school district continues to be a place where students feel safe and seen and heard, and I think it is important to support the educators that are supporting our kids in that matter. I think by speaking publicly that this is my position and … voting and supporting policies regarding all of this will be very important for me as a school board member. [Also] making sure that the things that are happening in the school district continue to happen, and defending it against those who would want to see a change.

“In terms of new things that I would like to see happen, I think a couple of areas of improvement in our district would be making sure we value our labor partners, our educators, our staff, in the decision-making process as well as at the bargaining table. I want to make sure our district shows in its statements as well as its actions that it prioritizes and values our labor partners and does so in the form of salary increases because I think their salaries should be proportional to the excellence they bring to the district. Right now, our salaries for both our GTA and CSEA are below average when compared to all other school districts in the LA County. That needs to change. If it doesn’t change it will bring long term harm to our employees, which in turn brings detriment to our students. That’s important to me, and also the communication, making sure that the way we communicate and engage with our families, our students, is something [that we improve], making sure that not only are we giving information but engaging with it differently, making sure that they have accurate information. This will help preemptively address some of the issues going on with misinformation and disinformation…to solve a lot of problems before they happen.

CVW: How important is it for a board member to elect a qualified superintendent that reflects the desires of their constituents?

Tse: “The primary role for a GUSD board member is to be a defender of the school district and everyone within that district, whether that be the district leadership, whether that be the educators or the students so definitely someone who is there to fight and to stand up for all of them. With that as the goal … the school board member has no choice but to stand up for those things I mentioned: making sure that we include all of them in the decision-making process, making sure we value them not just in terms of what we say in praising them but also backing this up with the decision to make a related salary and compensation all of that and in our curriculum; we say that we care about all our kids and we have to make sure that our policies and our curriculum reflects this as well … all of our students [and] all of our staff should be able to come to school and feel like they are supported, that someone is there to stand up to them, and that they are valued.”

CVW: What have you learned from your time as a special education teacher?

Tse: “I have been a special education teacher for about 20 years. I started at a non-public school after college. If you are not familiar with a non-public school, it’s a school that public school districts will send their kids [to] … usually for severe emotional disabilities when they’re not able to succeed in the mainstream environment … which sometimes can cause them to try to self-harm or to harm others, so it’s a fairly restrictive environment. That was my first role in education and I did that for about two years. My original plan was to become a general education history teacher. After two years in this experience, I felt that special education was my passion. It was an area of high need in education and I felt like had the patience and the temperament to be successful working with the students in that population. So two years in non-public school, then I went on to teach [at the] middle school level for a couple of years and then for the last 15 years at the high school level in the Beverly Hills Unified School District. As a special ed teacher, the one thing that is very important to me is making sure that our students feel included … making sure that they receive justice in schools. Sometimes, whether it is inadvertently, like special ed kids being put in a corner of the school campus, or being forgotten in school contests … little things that happen whether deliberate or not. So, in that role, being extra mindful that [things are] equitable for them at school became very important to me … [I am] coming into the school board, if elected, through the lens of … ‘Is this going to equitable? Is this going to be fair, is this going to be just, is this going to help our employees do their jobs better? Is this going to make our students feel safer and healthier and seen?’ I am going to come in with that lens guiding me in whatever decision I make.”

CVW: Regarding the reporting by the Beverly Hills Weekly about the misappropriation of funds within the Beverly Hills Education Association:

Tse: “Being the president of the Beverly Hills Education Association – that’s a very political position. So any time that somebody is involved in politics and people disagree with decisions that are made, that can cause some animosity. My belief is that all of this stems from animosity that comes from a few people who were on opposing sides of issues over the years, and this is their way of trying to deal with it. Like I mentioned in the [Beverly Hills Weekly], over the course of years any discrepancies that happened were resolved immediately and that’s a key point. Anything that happened was inadvertent. Once it was identified it was resolved immediately. And you would think that would resolve the issue for anybody, but when it’s a personal vendetta that’s not the case. I think one thing that’s also important to note is that the writer of the article [has a history of] ultra conservative [articles] and has very anti-progressive viewpoints. And that’s not an accident, that’s not a coincidence, why this particular writer chose to write this article. This is a situation that has been long resolved and there is no issue here.

“I am proud of my record as BHEA president. During my time as president, our members experienced record salary increases as well as record increases in health and welfare benefits and no one lost their jobs because of layoffs. I have served as treasurer of the Dunsmore Elementary School Foundation, with a budget significantly higher than BHEA’s with no issues. I serve as co-president of [the LA chapter of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance] with no issues, no issues with my current campaign as well. The record shows that I am someone who definitely tries to make sure they do everything right and any time there is an issue I resolve it immediately. It is something I take pride in, that I make sure I do right by myself as well as the organizations I work with.”

A comprehensive look at this issue is covered by Mary O’Keefe on page 4 of the Feb. 29 paper and online.

Tse: “I am the only person running [for area A] that is a GUSD parent, educator and coach in the community.”

For additional information, Tse encourages others to look at his website, https://www.tellytse.com/, which affirms his dedication to student academic achievement and mental health and students of color, LGBTQIA+ students, disabled students, and armenian students, for which he received a CTA “We Honor Ours” award in 2019 and a CTA Human Rights award in 2022. Other feats included on his website are winning the American Youths Soccer Association Coach of the Year in 2017 and completing 50 half marathons and full marathons.