An email to Georgia educators has raised fears of a veiled threat from the highest levels of state government.
The officials who sent the warning about “electoral advocacy” say it was merely a cautionary reminder about using public funds in electioneering and no coercion was intended, but some don’t believe it.
The reaction highlights the stakes and passions in the Nov. 8 referendum on creating a statewide Opportunity School District that could take “chronically failing” schools away from the local school districts that have long managed them.
The boards representing more than 40 of Georgia’s 180 school districts have passed resolutions opposing the referendum, and some of them fear retaliation.
Those fears were stoked Tuesday by the email from the Georgia Department of Education that reminded superintendents and other educators it is illegal for school boards to “expend funds or other resources to advocate or oppose the ratification of a constitutional amendment.” The email also said they cannot do this directly “or indirectly through associations to which they may belong.”
“It’s a threat,” said Lisa-Marie Haygood, president of the Georgia PTA, which opposes the referendum. “It is a bullying tactic and it’s dirty politics.”
The Georgia School Boards Association also adopted a resolution opposing the referendum, but Will Wade, the group’s president, said he does not believe these resolutions crossed any legal line and said he sees the email merely as a reminder that the line exists. After all, he noted, the state board of education passed its own resolution in favor of the referendum.
The Georgia Department of Education issued the email at the state board’s request. The state board chairman, Mike Royal, said the email was prompted by rumors about school districts using public resources, such as school stationery or postage, to notify the public about their position.
“There’s been some finger-pointing but no smoking guns,” Royal said.
He said it’s fine for boards to adopt resolutions and it would be “grasping” to consider the staff time, paper and computers used in recording such votes to be an illegal use of public resources.
That’s also the position of Phillip Hartley, whose law firm represents more than half of Georgia’s school districts as well as the state school boards association. He said it’s perfectly legal for political bodies to use a formal resolution to express their opinions about election issues.
And Royal, the state board member, said the email was merely a reminder about a line that should not be crossed: “There is nothing more to read into this than face value.”
But people are reading between the lines, said Wade, who also serves on the Dawson County school board, which passed a resolution against the referendum.
“I’ve heard from school systems that are concerned about retribution … if they don’t get in line,” he said.
About the Author
