For 13 years, Terri Baldwin served as the president of the Palo Alto Educators Association, the teachers union for PAUSD educators which, according to a PAEA page, represents over 800 certificated employees of the district. But now, Baldwin is stepping down and Tom Culbertson, the current vice president of the PAEA, will succeed her.
Anthro Magazine interviewed Baldwin and Culbertson to hear their perspectives on the past and the future.
Tom Culbertson
Tom Culbertson has taught at Juana Briones Elementary School for 15 years and has served various PAEA roles as a site rep, executive board member, and part of the negotiations team.
According to Culbertson, he hopes to draw on his previous experience in his new role.
“I want to listen and I want to understand the culture of all these different roles that I’ve been in,” Culbertson said. “I believe that it’s really important for there to be continuity in our union, so the fact that I’ve had Terri as my mentor for the last couple of years is a really important part of that.”
Despite his experience, Culbertson acknowledges that he’s new and says that a major goal will be to just learn the role.
“For my first year, I’ve got a bunch of different goals, including things like just learning this job,” Culbertson said. “Members of this union are really going to be the ones who are going to drive me and give me the guidance I need to respond and advocate for their needs.”
Culbertson said that he also wants to bring something new to the table.
“I’m going to be different,” Culbertson said. “I’m just not the same person. My plan is that I’m going to bring a different style to it [the role].”
Specifically, Culbertson said he aims to be accessible.
“I will have a public face that I will be providing,” Culbertson said. “I’m really interested in meeting with all elected officials, school board members who represent this community, city council members, and I do want to express my openness to meeting with community groups. That’s a really important part of our partnership.”
Culbertson also wants to continue championing key PAEA issues.
“The things that I care about are the working and living conditions of our members,” Culbertson said. “I do believe that our working conditions and our morale affects the students’ experience of education.”
According to Culbertson, giving voice to teachers is also a key part of his role and the union.
“Educators have a strong sense of what are some of the best policy choices or policy pathways since we’re in the classroom all the time,” Culbertson said. “We [teachers] can be a part of the process of serving our students and making those policies. We can be a really valuable resource for the community.”
Culbertson said he will dedicate himself to serving the community.
“Starting on June 6, I’m going to be working seven days a week and 24 hours a day to strengthen our union and serve this community and serve this school district.”
Terri Baldwin
Terri Baldwin has been actively involved in the PAEA for 26 years and has been the union’s president for 13 years.
According to Baldwin, she’s decided to step down to pursue other passions.
“The teacher library position at Fletcher became available, and those don’t become available very often,” Baldwin said. “I have always been interested in that position, so I reflected and took time, and talked with our vice president. I decided that it would be best for me to step down this year so I could take on that new challenge.”
Baldwin said that she is proud of the things she has accomplished in her seven terms.
“I’m really proud of the significant contract gains we’ve made, particularly in special education working conditions, because our working conditions are students’ learning conditions,” Baldwin said. “We’ve done some really great things, but increasing membership participation has been the best.”
According to Baldwin, guiding member engagement is one of the most critical things for her role and the union.
“I really helped people get involved and engaged,” Baldwin said. “We had about 250 teachers come out to a board meeting. That is the most [members] we’ve ever had involved.”
Baldwin said that she is excited for the future of the PAEA under Culbertson’s leadership.
“He [Culbertson] has been a great voice on our executive board,” Baldwin said. “I have a lot of confidence that he is going to build on what we’ve done. He’s going to do a great job, very thoughtful and caring.”
According to Baldwin, she is proud of the increased teacher participation she’s seen.
“We’re an organization that helps teachers represent themselves, not just to do the fighting for them, but to have everyone come together as a collective, because we’re stronger together,” Baldwin said. “Over the past few years, I’ve really seen that happen. … Our educators go above and beyond every day.”
Baldwin said she is honored to have been able to serve the community.
“It’s truly been an honor to serve as the PAEA president this long,” Baldwin said. “I’m really deeply grateful to our incredible educators who entrusted me with this responsibility. I leave this role proud of what we’ve accomplished together, because it really has been together, and I’m confident in our union strength.”