Bidding farewell to a champion for teachers

One week ago today, a voice for Newport-Mesa school teachers fell

silent.

It was a voice that championed the cause of teachers to receive

competitive salaries and benefits for the noble cause of educating

this community’s youth.

Linda Mook won many battles fighting for that cause and for

keeping the needs of her fellow educators on the forefront.

But, sadly, her most recent battle, an arduous struggle against

cancer, is one that could not be won, even by Mook, who died last

Thursday in her home at the age of 62.

Mook, who worked as a journalist before becoming a teacher,

garnered many admirers in her career as she carved out a reputation

as a strong advocate for teachers.

And while the loss of such advocacy is to be mourned, the labor

movement itself should note that it lost a living example of someone

who took the high road in salary negotiations.

In this day and age, when union leaders have gained the reputation

of being corrupt, and even worse futile, Mook was able to engage in

spirited negotiations that left district officials seeing her less as

an adversary than as a colleague.

Take, for example, this quote from Newport-Mesa Unified School

District Supt. Robert Barbot at the conclusion of contract

negotiations in 2000:

“I think we’re all feeling good about the outcome in the meantime.

It’s looking positive, and we hope it will be the right thing for our

teachers -- they deserve it.”

And this comment, also published in the Daily Pilot, from Mook on

those same negotiations:

“Basically, the district can’t commit dollars that it doesn’t

have, and we want to maintain all the great programs that we have.”

It’s hard to imagine those words coming from today’s Teamster

bosses or other labor leaders, who prefer to fan the flames of

discontent among union members with incendiary rhetoric.

That wasn’t Mook’s style, and we applaud her for it.

That isn’t to say she wasn’t a dynamic personality. As her

husband, Harland, put it, Mook was always running at 110%, even

finding the strength to attend her daughter’s wedding in December,

while in the throes of her cancer battle and even after suffering a

stroke.

And while her voice may be silent now, there is no doubt she has

left a great legacy that not only teachers, but parents, school

administrators and community members should be grateful for.