August 1, 2019
Dear Parents and Community Advocates,
Thank you for your support of district only election for School Board at today’s Rules Committee meeting.
The Rules Committee voted unanimously to recommend placement of a ballot initiative in the November 2020 General Election that will amend the City Charter to electing School Board Member by District only election rather than by citywide election with implementation beginning in 2022 Election.
As you all are aware, the Parents for Quality Education has filed a lawsuit against the City of San Diego to enforce the California Voting Rights Act by making the San Diego Unified School District School Board Election by district only rather than a citywide election. Winning this legal battle is still our priority because this will finally assure without delay and political maneuvering that all communities have accurate representation to San Diego’s public education system and place the interest of kids first.
The Grand Jury findings of May 2017 state that sub-district elections alone would assure voters of each district would be more fairly represented than an “at-large” election. The Council on October 16,2017 unanimously agreed with the grand jury findings.
Had the Rules Committee Members’ majority voted to place this initiative on the ballot in 2018 as we requested, a lawsuit should have not been filed. Our lawsuit will run its course and we are confident that we will win in court and district only election will be implemented right away without a requirement of a ballot initiative process.
Whatever is the outcome of the lawsuit, today is a step in the right direction. Eventually, we will see change and true fair representation of our neighborhoods and community on the Board of Education.
We will keep you informed on our efforts. Work is never done when it comes to our children. Please keep the fight for quality education for all children.
Again, thank you. Together we will make things happen.
With much appreciation,
Mitz Lee
Board Chair
Parents for Quality Education
Bret Caslavka
President
Parents for Quality Education
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About PQE & CVE
https://parentsforqualityeducation.org/
http://communityvoicesforeducation.org/
Community Voices for Education (CVE) is a group of parents, community members and stakeholders working together to bring accountability, transparency, and representation in our San Diego Public Education system, so every child receives the quality education they need. CVE is a project of Parents for Quality Education (PQE), a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, was founded by civic minded parents in 2009 to improve public education through increased involvement of parents and the community in the educational process.