The humanities professor from California State University, Monterey Bay who was sued by the conservative Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association this month for urging his students in an email to vote for the tax initiative Proposition 30 ran afoul of the state law (Government Code Section 8314) that bans the use of public resources for campaign activities.
CSU acknowledged as much, calling Professor Ernest Stromberg’s message over the campus email system, which urged students not only to vote for Prop 30, but to work to pass it, “inappropriate and unfortunate.”
On your own time, on your own dime is the watchword for teachers campaigning for tax initiatives and other ballot issues.
The suit raised the complex issue of just what forms of advocacy are appropriate for public employees and elected officials on behalf of ballot issues. While Stromberg’s action appeared improper, other circumstances may not be as clear-cut: the teacher who wears a “No On Prop 32″ button to school; the parent group that wants to buy an ad on a school website for Prop 38, the initiative raising the income tax to bring in $10 billion to K-12 schools and preschools; the school
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Texas, California do compete – in funding race to the bottom - by Peter Schrag
Steve Murdock isn’t a household name in Sacramento – but maybe he should be. Murdock is the former state demographer in Texas. This month, he testified in a trial in which hundreds of Texas school districts are suing the state for failing in its constitutional obligation to adequately fund its schools. The suit was prompted by the $5.4 billion the Legislature cut from public school funding and...