They used to battle in CA elections. Now, they back the same candidate

Which of these is least likely?

Kendrick Lamar and Drake squashing their feud?

Giants fans and Dodgers fans sharing high-fives? 

Or California charter schools endorsing the same candidate for superintendent as the state’s largest teachers’ union?

If you remember the 2018 election, you’d probably vote for the pigs-flying scenario of the California Charter Schools Association and the California Teachers Association being on the same page in an election year. Back then, advocates for both sides shelled out tens of millions of dollars in the contest between union-supported Tony Thurmond and charter school-backed Marshall Tuck. Thurmond came out ahead. 

But this year, both associations are rallying behind candidate Richard Barrera: Four months after the teachers’ union announced its endorsement of the president of the San Diego Unified school board, the charter schools association this week said it’s backing Barrera too — a move Barrera told me “came as a bit of a surprise.”

He pointed to two attributes of San Diego schools that might explain how the usually competing groups came to support his candidacy. First, unlike in other regions, the politics surrounding San Diego school board races or other education issues did not typically pit “charters versus union.” In fact, the percentage of students attending charters grew while he was on the board. 

And second, the school board included charters when it distributed money to improve school facilities. That experience working on local facilities bonds established “a unique relationship between the charter and public schools that CCSA has told me that doesn’t exist in most places,” Barrera said.

In a statement, Gregory McGinity, the executive director of the charter association’s lobbying arm, said Barrera, “has shown that supporting educators and supporting high-quality charter public schools are not mutually exclusive.” 

But don’t expect both groups’ backing of Barrera to mean they will agree with each other in the future. CTA President David Goldberg told me that while the union didn’t endorse Barrera to build a coalition with charters, he didn’t find the charter association’s support of Barrera “shocking” either.

• Goldberg: “Sometimes even people who don’t see things the same way … we still want someone who is very capable running this department. That benefits all students.”