"Education Code Section 7054 prohibits the use of school district funds, services, supplies or equipment to advocate for or against a ballot measure or candidate."While Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) employees are permitted to get involved in political causes, they must do so on their own time. They are not allowed to use school district funds or resources to promote candidates or propositions and they cannot engage in these activities while on LAUSD property.
- LAUSD
Despite these prohibitions, the Sun Valley Community of Schools and the San Fernando Community of Schools used their Twitter feeds to promote campaign messages from Manny Gonez, who is the husband of LAUSD Board President Kelly Gonez. Both of these Communities of Schools are located in Board District 6, the area represented by Gonez. By promoting this Tweet, these district bureaucracies gave the impression that Gonez is endorsed by the LAUSD in her race against Marvin Rodriguez.
This is not the first time that LAUSD resources have been used to promote the Gonez campaign. Earlier this month the incumbent held an event to promote herself at the Discovery Cube. This was organized by her district staff and was promoted on school websites.
Through her first term, Gonez and her allies on the board have shown a disregard for ethics rules. She supported Ref Rodriguez for board president even though it was publicly alleged that he had laundered money during his campaign. When Rodriguez was convicted of this crime and forced to step down from his board seat, Gonez helped to prevent a caretaker from being appointed, leaving the residents of Board District 5 without representation. Gonez also voted to approve a contract with a former employer and then accepted a campaign donation from them.
The students of the LAUSD deserve to be represented by someone who models ethical behavior. Gonez has proven on multiple occasions that she is not that person.
Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for students with special education needs and public education. He was elected to the Northridge East Neighborhood Council and is the Education Chair. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD's District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him "a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles." For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.
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