Elections, Referendums, School Boards and Administrators

Aaron Bensonhaver:

Phil Hartley, legal counsel for the school boards association, said one area that school board members and superintendents often get into trouble is in supporting a referendum or candidate.

Hartley said either can support such situations on their own time, but must be careful not to use tax money, including being on the clock while campaigning, while working for the cause.

He said using tax money to encourage people to vote is OK, but doing so to encourage people to vote a certain way can get systems into trouble, which usually amounts to fines of $1,000-$10,000, depending on the number of violations of the Ethics and Government Act, which is also the law that requires candidates to disclose contributions they have received.

Herb Garrett, executive director of the superintendents association, gave the board members and superintendents, which included four members of the Dougherty County School Board, one member of the Lee County School Board and each system's superintendent, tips on how to talk to legislators.

Garrett said the key is giving the legislators or candidates local information concerning their district.

He said about $167 million had been eliminated from state funding for public education in recent austerity cuts, but that number is too big and abstract for a legislator to understand.

But, as he did with a representative from Henry County, if local officials show how much local impact such cuts cause — nearly $26 million over five years in Henry County — and what those cuts mean, including not having enough money for updated textbooks, the legislators will be more likely to understand how their decisions in the General Assembly affect their constituents.

Garrett didn't have such numbers for Dougherty or Lee County.

David Maschke, Dougherty County School Board District 1 representative, said he thought the presentation would benefit the about 40 school system representatives present.

"The intent of this was to be able to communicate with legislators and candidates," Maschke said.

He said with all the other issues legislators face, school lobbyists and representatives need to know how best to approach the state decision makers to get their point through.

"It helps us make decisions using credible data," Maschke said of the meeting.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at September 12, 2006 5:13 PM
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