By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

SAN FRANCISCO – One might expect California Gov. Jerry Brown to have more respect for state law.

Brown has been busy campaigning on behalf of Proposition 30, a statewide ballot proposal that would supposedly raise money for public schools and community colleges by increasing property taxes for everyone and income taxes for residents making more than $250,000 per year.

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Polls indicate that the people of California may not be ready to accept this proposal, so Brown is pulling out all the stops as Election Day nears. That includes making a speech to public school teachers over the weekend, urging them to work as hard as possible to ensure voter approval of the tax, according to a report from SFgate.com.

By doing so, the governor could be inviting illegal activity.

State regulations bar the use of public funds to promote political activities. As we’ve seen over and over in schools in California and across the nation, teachers violate this standard by using their classrooms to promote their favorite issues and candidates, posting political signs in classroom windows, distributing political materials in schools, and using school-owned email accounts to coordinate their political activities.

Teachers who heard Brown ask them to fight for Proposition 30 may take his words as permission to ignore the law and pursue political activities during school time or using school resources.

The governor should have made it clear to teachers that their political activities must be performed separately from their work and away from their work places. But we think Brown is far more concerned with passing his tax proposal than honoring the fine points of the law. If it means a few teachers get a little carried away and violate a few regulations, well, you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet.

California parents and taxpayers who respect the law should watch closely over the next few weeks, record any evidence they come across of teachers bringing their politics into schools, and alert authorities when they uncover questionable activities.

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Teachers are not paid to carry the water for Brown or the Democratic Party, and they must be held accountable when they cross the line.