Before you go calling out the pitchfork brigade and storming the castle, you need to understand the law. It's slightly complex.
Education Code section 7050 begins an article ("Political Activities of School Officers and Employees") that prohibits some kinds of activity and permits others under certain conditions. For the purposes of this discussion, you should understand section 7054 and section 7058.
Our Supreme Court has ruled on the restrictions of section 7054 in relation to a "free speech" challenge. The opening sentence of the opinion is: "Shortly before an election, ..." San Leandro Teachers Assn. v. Governing Bd. of San Leandro Unified School Dist. (2009), 46 Cal.4th 822, 827. That should give you a clue. Right now, we are in that period "shortly before an election."
In general, section 7054 prohibits (with a criminal sanction) the use of "district funds, services, supplies, or equipment." There is, of course, the "information" exception which requires two conditions to be met.
Just as a brief aside. The second requirement for the "information" exception requires "a fair and impartial presentation of relevant facts." What are facts? Words have meaning. Anything that "will" happen in the future is NOT a fact. It's speculation. Almost all of the district's arguments (reasons) for the bond measure and how the proceeds "will be" expended are NOT facts. They are pure speculation. Finally, allegations, claims, conclusions, estimates, generalizations, opinions, predictions, and promises are NOT facts. Facts are specific, like "Room 202 has peeling lead paint because we haven't removed it in 75 years." Answers to fabricated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are also NOT facts. You can take that and run with it to shut down almost all pre-election district activity.
It also doesn't matter what is written in the ballot label, the impartial analysis, the full text of the measure, the arguments, or the tax rate statement. Our courts have also held that a measure is not a contract. (Assoc. Students of N. Peralta v. Bd. of Trustees (1979) 92 Cal.App.3d 672.) District lawyers intentionally write the measures so poorly in order to ensure that they can never be enforced against the district. Six ways from Sunday, the measures are scams.
Section 7058, the focus of this article, states: "Nothing in this article shall prohibit the use of a forum under the control of the governing board of a school district or community college district if the forum is made available to all sides on an equitable basis."
So what do school and college districts do "shortly before an election?" Typically, they do some or all of the following:
ALL of these activities are illegal. Each instance is a separate crime (a misdemeanor) under section 7054(c). Note that corrupt county district attorneys, because they have discretion, will not prosecute the responsible district employees. This is mostly because the public, in general, doesn't know the law and never files complaints.
Each of these instances are also, with high certainty, non-monetary contributions to the campaign, whether or not a primarily formed committee files any paperwork. You must understand that the filing of a Statement of Organization (Form 410) with the Secretary of State is not the criteria for "qualifying" a committee. Receiving contributions or making expenditures over the statutory minimum, automatically "qualifies" the receiver of the contributions or the maker of the expenditures as a committee. In fact, almost every school and college district IS a campaign committee based on the pre-election expenditures that they make. They just never file and never report. Campaign finance is an entire subject. We are always willing to help those who go after the criminals running your district. If you're serious about it, call us.
Note the asterisks in the list above. We contend that those are forums. Most district web sites provide school-related organizations to place links or information on the district's web site. With our guidance, local individuals like yourself have been able to "persuade" the district to take down the "information" when a specific demand is made. (The The Art of War advises us not to disclose the actual tactics in a public article like this.)
Regarding the "meetings on school property," there are two actions that you MUST take. First, find out the schedule for every "meeting" with its time and location. (Hint: Just call the district.) Second, make a request directly to the superintendent/chancellor/president to present "information" at each of those meetings. You must make the request. Complaining after the fact is of no value.
Often times, the superintendent will pass off your request to an underling. In any case, you're likely to get a reply that you may attend the meeting and ask any questions you wish. THIS DOES NOT MEET THE DEFINITION OF "EQUITABLE BASIS." Your request is to speak from the front of the room, answer questions, and distribute materials, just like the district's speakers will do.
Get it? This is not rocket science. The district will either grant your request (rarely), cancel the meeting, or ignore you. In any of these cases, you've won. If the district denies your request or ignores you, go to the meetings (hopefully with a small crew) and greet people entering and offer your sign up sheet, pass out your literature, and record (video if possible) the proceedings. Remember, the district is promoting these meetings. They're doing all the work for you. You'll never get a better chance to connect with voters than this.
Good luck. If you've done the first step (gotten the schedule), send it to us, sign up on the web site, and then call us. We're really only interested in helping people who are willing to help themselves. Tire kickers and people with their own ideas are welcome to do it their way and report back on the results.
Again, we can't discuss all the tactics publicly. That's why you must be willing to sign up at the web site.
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