Recent allegations levied at Glendale Unified School District Board of Education candidate Telly Tse regarding a misappropriation of union funds are false, the Glendale Teachers Association said on Friday.
A source with the Beverly Hills Education Association and knowledge on the matter also told the News-Press that financial policy concerns regarding an audit by the California Teachers Association in 2022 “were resolved.”
During a Feb. 7 GUSD Board of Education candidate forum, candidate Jordan Henry used a portion of closing comments to draw attention to a Beverly Hills Weekly report that alleged Tse misappropriated funds during his time as a former teachers union president.
The publication alleged that Tse, along with other board members of the Beverly Hills Education Association, had misappropriated union funds for travel, referencing an audit performed by the California Teachers Association.
Tse and Henry are running for a GUSD School Board seat in Trustee Area A, along with Shant Kevorkian, in the election on March 5.
A BHEA member with knowledge of the situation, whom the News-Press is not naming due to concerns about safety and harassment, gave the following statement regarding the allegations:
“A review of BHEA finances and financial practices was conducted in fall 2022. Policies were revised and all discrepancies were resolved immediately,” the source said. “There was no ill-intent from anyone involved.”
Tse denied the allegations and objected to the Beverly Hills Weekly author’s sources and political agenda.
“This is a badly sourced non-story, written by someone with a clear, ultra conservative and anti-union agenda,” Tse told the News-Press.
The publication’s writer took an otherwise normal process out of context, Tse said. Neither he nor the BHEA organization were disciplined in any way as a result of the audit, and it was not a “punitive process,” Tse said, but rather an effort to resolve gaps in policy for reporting and tracking expenditures.
On Friday, the Glendale Teachers Association confirmed its endorsement of Tse for Area A Board of Education member. Taline Arsenian, GTA president, told the News-Press the organization stands behind Tse 100%.
“The claims made in [Beverly Hills Weekly] are false. CTA conducted a full investigation, and the situation was completely resolved,” Arsenian said. “There is nothing to worry about with Telly. I have full faith in his ethical and moral decision-making capabilities.”
Considering the audit took place a year and a half ago, Tse said the timing of the publication’s piece to coincide with the candidate forum, as well as Henry’s political stumping about it, demonstrate collusion to tarnish his reputation.
“The timing of this clearly reflects a coordinated effort,” Tse said.
The publication’s author included testimony from Beverly Hills Unified School District teachers Amy Arebalo and Judith Chan, former members of BHEA before leaving the union. Arebalo and Chan filed a complaint with the CTA regarding concerns over the union’s financial practices.
In his experience as BHEA president from 2014 to 2018, Tse said that Arebalo and Chan were often on the “losing side” of decisions made by the association over the years.
“In my opinion, a lot of this is because of a personal vendetta, as well as an anti-union sentiment,” Tse said. “I’m proud of my record as BHEA president during a time in which our members saw significant gains in salary and health and welfare benefits.”
Tse was CTA’s director at large from June 2020 to October 2022.
He stepped down to pursue other opportunities, he said, including being elected as co-president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance in September 2022 and taking a job at the Beverly Hills Unified School District.
CTA supports GTA’s endorsement of Tse’s candidacy, he noted.
Meanwhile, the GTA said it maintains its support for Tse.
“Telly’s record speaks for itself. He has done nothing but positively contribute to the Glendale community,” Arsenian said. “When he wins, he is going to make decisions to benefit all students and employees and will serve as a role model for the whole community.”
First published in the February 24 print issue of the Glendale News-Press.
