<\/p>\n
In California\u2019s largest school district without a teacher\u2019s union, a teachers\u2019 group succeeded in getting enough signatures for a petition to start process. (Bee file photo)<\/p>\n
JOHN WALKER<\/p>\n
Fresno Bee file<\/p>\n
Teachers in California\u2019s 11th-largest school district have filed a petition that could end Clovis Unified\u2019s 66-year run as the largest school district west of the Mississippi River without a teachers union. The move follows years of organizing by two competing groups and a state ruling that dismantled the district\u2019s employer-backed teacher organization.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a look at the history and what\u2019s next2021 \u2014 Organizing begins: Clovis teachers, psychologists and counselors formed the Association of Clovis Educators in April 2021<\/a>, backed by the California Teachers Association, to push for unionization in the state\u2019s largest district without a teachers union.February 2022 \u2014 First union contract: School psychologists and mental health support professionals voted 49-16 to join ACE<\/a>, forming the first-ever union for certified educators in Clovis Unified. Organizers said the pandemic exposed how excluded staff felt from district decision-making.December 2023 \u2014 State finds violations: The Public Employment Relations Board ruled that Clovis Unified illegally supported the Faculty Senate<\/a> by paying for phone bills, a vehicle, technology, offices and other perks not offered to other employee groups. ACE appealed, arguing the ruling should have disbanded the Faculty Senate entirely.June 2024 \u2014 Faculty Senate dissolved: A follow-up PERB ruling ended the Faculty Senate<\/a>, finding the district violated neutrality and deterred employees from joining unions. ICUE says the district had been spending $300,000 or more annually to support the group.August 2025 \u2014 Ruling read aloud: Deputy Superintendent Norm Anderson read the PERB notice to district employees<\/a>, closing a yearlong dispute. Superintendent Corrine Folmer had been ordered to read it herself, but the district appealed that requirement before agreeing to mediation.The two competitors: ACE is affiliated with the California Teachers Association and has already organized school psychologists and American Sign Language interpreters. Independent Clovis Unified Educators, also formed in 2021<\/a>, charges $39 monthly dues \u2014 less than half of ACE\u2019s \u2014 and pitches itself as independent from state and national political groups.August 2026 \u2014 Petition filed: ICUE announced Thursday it collected signatures from more than 1,000 teachers \u2014 a majority of the district\u2019s certificated staff \u2014 and filed a Petition for Recognition with PERB<\/a> to become the exclusive representative for full-time certificated teachers.What\u2019s next: After PERB verifies signatures, ACE has said it will file an intervention petition, which would force an election among teachers. ACE plans to seek an inclusive union covering all certificated educators, while ICUE\u2019s petition covers only teachers. District spokesperson Kelly Avants said Clovis Unified respects employees\u2019 right to choose how they are represented.<\/p>\n Original stories by Leqi Zhong, Melissa Montalvo and Laura Diaz<\/p>\n This report was produced with the assistance of a proprietary tool powered by artificial intelligence based on our own originally reported, written and published content. Before publishing, journalists reviewed this content in compliance with McClatchy Media\u2019s AI policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In California\u2019s largest school district without a teacher\u2019s union, a teachers\u2019 group succeeded in getting enough signatures for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-421723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}