A question for legal eagles.

[mmonk]

Can a taxpayer sue the school board if the school board votes to receive training from a political organization?

[mmonk]

1. For those wondering why I'm asking or are making assumptions,

the schoold district where I am from has been taken over by a Republican majority who voted that the Civitas Institute train the board members. This is a rightwing think tank run by Art Pope. This organization is ideological, not in the public interest.

[napi21]

2. I'm no lawyer, but my guess is you can sue anybody for anything, but

you won't win unless you can demonstrate how you were harmed. You didn't say if the Board was paying anything for this training, nor did you say what kind of training it was. I know for sure, unless you can demonstrate how you were harmed, you can not win, and most likely would never get any lawyer to take the case.

[mmonk]

3. They are getting rid of the diversity program so disadvantaged

kids are going to suffer.

[MrCoffee]

6. Now I'm confused...how does the training impact the diversity program?

What is the actual issue here?

[mmonk]

7. To spend less and create neighborhood schools.

Do away with operations that support busing for diversity and socio economic reasons, cut out programs and reduce lunches, special education, magnet schools, etc. as far the ideology of the group goes. Why would a rightwing think tank need to train the school board?

[MrCoffee]

8. If the training is related to the issues you raise, there's no basis at all for a suit

Just because the training comes from an organization you disagree with doesn't mean the training is worthless for whatever it covers.

If the school board is moving to cut overall costs and a training can help them identify areas where cuts can be made, they can hire whoever they want to run the training.

[mmonk]

10. Our state constitution requires a free and appropriate education

for all our children. Training for these endeavors is not usually done by political organizations and normally has been done by the University system. This think tank is not interested in the quality of education nor its mission. They have no expertise in public school systems.

[NoNothing]

11. I'm afraid that falls under the category of

"elections have consequences." If they are guilty of malfeasance then there is a possibility of criminal charges but generally without a Section 1983 civil rights violation you cannot sue government officials for actions undertaken as part of their duties.

[Mz Pip]

4. would this be the kind of case

the ACLU might be interested in?

I would be curious as to what kind of training this organization is providing. How to organize your files is one thing, how to choose "appropriate" curriculum is another.

[mmonk]

5. Thanks for the thought on the ACLU

[NoNothing]

9. One exception

You cannot sue the government unless they specifically allow it by statute. Google "sovereign immunity." So the answer is probably not.

[mmonk]

12. But what about tax payers money going to political organizations?

I just got an email since I posed this question here from a reporter that reported on this story and he is going to check on who is paying for it and get back to me.

[NoNothing]

13. Report it to a U.S. attorney

There are ethics laws to stop things like that. It could very well be a crime. But you can't sue.

[mmonk]

14. Thanks

[mmonk]

17. I'm working on a FOIA letter to get the training materials.

I want to see how an anti-public school organization will "train" the school board. I will publish the materials.

[Mz Pip]

15. One lawyer's opinion:

I asked my kid who is an attorney and this is what he said:


I think the answer is no. The simple fact that one is a tax payer and does not like how tax money is spent does not give the plaintiff standing to sue. Standing means, essentially, an injury that the suit could actually redress. Simply not liking tax expenditures is not an injury.


But I suppose you could ask a dozen attorneys and get a dozen different answers. :shrug:

[mmonk]

16. That seems correct.

I'm thinking a family with a child that is affected negatively might be able to such as if they do not provide what the law requires for the learning disabled or something similar. I should look at it from the ethics arena I suppose.