SPOKANE, Wash. – One private citizen really can make a difference, as 33 Spokane Public Schools employees have discovered.

A three-year state investigation sparked by Spokane resident Laurie Rogers recently concluded that 33 school employees “violated campaign laws when they used public property to promote a school bond and a levy and assist in a board candidate’s campaign,” the Spokesman-Review reports.

Sixteen of the offenders have been fined a total of $1,700 for committing violations in the school elections of 2009, 2011 and/or 2012, the news site reports.

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Of the 17 other employees, 15 were apparently let off with a warning, as their violations were considered minimal by state investigators. The final two – an assistant superintendent and a teacher – will learn what their penalty is later this month.

Rogers’ actions drove the investigation. The Spokesman-Review reports that she filed the original complaint with the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission, and secured the district employees’ email – which was used as evidence – through an open records request.

The nearly 900 emails examined by investigators reveal a wide range of illegal activity, from sending one or two election-related email from a school computer to using school facilities to hold meetings about a school bond and levy ballot proposal.

Investigators also discovered that some district employees even used class time “to promote campaigns or candidates,” and involved students in promoting the K-12 funding proposals and sending out “invitations for meeting a school board candidate,” according to the paper.

District leaders say they already have policies forbidding such activities, and that they’ve conducted training sessions to remind employees where the boundaries lie. The training sessions will be an annual event.

This case reveals a larger truth about America’s K-12 system: School employees like to think they are the school district, which is why they act so arrogantly (and occasionally above the law).

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The reality is that taxpayers “are” the school district, and school employees are simply servants of those taxpayers. From the reporting we’ve done over the years, it’s obvious that most school employees could use that reality check, to keep them in their proper place.

Rogers deserves appreciation of the entire Spokane community for singlehandedly bringing this breach of the public’s trust to the forefront. Every school district needs a Laurie Rogers of its own to keep district leaders and employees honest.

Operating a school district is an expensive and complicated business. Taxpayers shouldn’t have to worry about their employees using their property or their children against them for political purposes.

We hope any repeat offenders in Spokane are quickly shown the door.