A San Antonio school district appears to have encouraged employees to vote for a bond on the May 7 ballot, potentially breaking the law.
School choice activist Corey DeAngelis publicized district communications on Twitter Saturday morning that include a message from a principal of a school in the Northside Independent School District (ISD). In the message, the principal asks employees to vote for the bond and says the district will monitor whether or not employees vote.
“Thank you for supporting the NISD Bond 2022. As per Dr. Woods, all employees will be expected to vote for this year’s Bond,” the message reads.
“Only 7 percent of NISD employees voted during our last NISD Bond and according to our Superintendent, Dr. Woods ‘this is unacceptable.’ Especially, because 70 percent of NISD employees live in NISD. We should all be doing our part to vote and to be advocating for our NISD students. Central Office will be monitoring campus percentages for employee voting stats in the next weeks to come and will be expecting ALL employees to vote.”
State law forbids public employees from spending or authorizing public funds on political advertising.
The principal’s message could fall under the definition of “political advertising” forbidden by this chapter, which includes “a communication supporting or opposing… a measure,” according to the Texas Election Code.
Governor Greg Abbott weighed in, saying the message could be illegal.
“I have spoken with Texas Education Commissioner...
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