CTA sues to campaign on campus

The California Teachers Association, one of the biggest and most powerful unions in the state, is launching a lawsuit to enable the union to campaign for partisan offices on public school grounds. The Contra Costa Times has the story today. In a debate that pits electioneering laws against free speech, California's largest union has launched a legal battle to permit political endorsement on public grounds. State law ensures teachers unions the right to spread the word on contract negotiations and grievances using campus mailboxes. However school districts typically ban partisan politics from the rectangular receptacles, to the chagrin of unions. "We view that as censorship," said Priscilla Winslow, assistant chief counsel for the California Teacher Association. In conjunction with local union affiliates, CTA has filed four unfair labor charges with the state Public Employee Relations Board over restrictions on teacher mailboxes, long considered off-limits to election endorsements. The Mt. Diablo Education Association turned in a complaint earlier this month. Teachers in Long Beach and Yuba City schools made similar charges. Campaigning on public grounds has long been a no-no. In fact, it was an issue (of sorts) in this year's lieutenant governor's race, when GOP operatives took pictures of Democrat John Garamendi hosting a rally in a state building.