Nearly all Orange County city, county and state government campaigns have limits on how much donors can spend on their favorite candidates.
But one big outlier in Orange County is the county school board, which a Voice of OC investigation found has no limits on donations to politicians.
An investigation into the most recent election cycle found that more than $700,000 in contributions to the current board violated state campaign finance limits for cities and counties that do not have their own campaign finance caps.
However, it is legal for school districts and school boards.
Voice of OC also reviewed the campaign finance filings of all board challengers in the lead-up to the March 5 primary election.
Although no one received direct donations that exceeded the state limit for cities and counties that do not have campaign contribution limits, the Westminster Teachers Association did receive donations for postage for the campaigns of Nancy Watkins and David Johnson. In total, they reported spending about $18,000.
The entire $700,000 gift to county school board trustees will focus on increasing the number of local charter schools in OC, which has expanded by 300% in recent years, according to Mark Butcher, co-founder of OC Classical Academy. It was from an activist who put He is one of the leaders of the movement.
The school board hadn't denied a charter school application in four years, after denying Irvine International Academy's application, which was later approved.
Many of those same funders also invest heavily in school districts like Orange Unified, which recently greenlit an effort to foreclose on a former middle school on the district's property. But their biggest interest lies with the county school board, which oversees education. We approve charter schools throughout OC.
What are the campaign contribution limits?
If a city or county does not have a campaign contribution cap, under AB 571, a law sponsored by then-Democratic Rep. Kevin Mullin that took effect in 2021, the state's cap on donors per election $5,500 per person must be applied. .
A summary of the state law specifies that it applies to candidates for “elected county or city office.”
Those limits also apply to county superintendents, but not county school boards or school boards, according to the state Fair Political Practices Commission, which enforces campaign finance laws.
School boards also have the authority to set their own restrictions, but that does not appear to be the case.
Board members Mari Burke and Tim Shaw said the board had never had campaign restrictions.
“My understanding is that there are no limits to the campaign,” Burke said in an interview. “I think that's unusual.”
In response to questions from the Voice of OC, Department of Education spokesman Ian Hannigan and OC Registrar Bob Page could not find any written restrictions adopted by the county school board.
Multiple donations to school boards have reached up to $50,000, and Voice of OC's investigation found at least 25 donations to school boards that violate many city council and county campaign restrictions.
What does the Board of Education do?
Each of the county's 28 K-12 schools. Public school districts are governed by independently elected school boards, and county departments of education are governed by elected superintendents.
However, the Orange County Board of Education has the authority to license charter schools throughout the county and is responsible for managing charter schools and approving potential expansions.
The commission has frequently clashed with County Superintendent Al Mijares over who has ultimate authority over the Department of Education.
Amid these struggles, they have approved numerous charter school applications and been outspoken supporters of their expansion.
Burke, who also works for the conservative think tank California Policy Center, wrote in an article this month that many school districts are “pursuing cultural issues such as gender, social justice, and equity” more than academics. expressed dissatisfaction.
“In many districts, there is more emphasis on critical race theory than on critical thinking,” Burke wrote. “Despite expanding school choice in many parts of the country, the vast majority of students are stuck without options in rural districts that are under the jurisdiction of their local school board.”
Where did the money come from?
The county school board has long been a bastion of charter school advocates, but after Becky Gomez resigned from her seat on the Tustin City Council in 2022, all current board members are now pro-charter school advocates. I am receiving support.
Her successor, Jorge Valdez, is running for office for the first time with more than $150,000 in support from charter school operators and supporters, accounting for about 85% of his campaign funds. is occupying.
The rest of the board followed a similar pattern, receiving between $80,000 and $180,000 from various charter school political action committees and activists in the last election, according to campaign disclosures reviewed by Voice of OC. received more support.
The single largest donor is the Statewide Charter School Political Action Committee, which has spent more than $320,000 on the campaigns of five board members from 2022 to the present.
In addition to their direct spending, they also funded a separate committee called the “Orange County Great Public Schools Advocates,'' which contributed an additional $50,000.
The Lincoln Club of Orange County, one of the largest local conservative fundraisers, also spent $130,000 on the same candidate.
The largest individual donor to all five board members was Mr. Boucher, a former director of the Lincoln Club and CEO of the California Policy Center, where Mr. Burke also works.
Much of that money came from direct loans from Mr. Butcher himself or from Service First, a contracting company in which Mr. Butcher owns a stake, according to state disclosures.
Voice of OC found a total of $165,000 in funds connected to Butcher, most of which were loans to campaign accounts of candidates running for school board.
Mike Moodian, a political science professor at Chapman University, said he had never heard of a candidate receiving such large direct donations or loans.
“This highlights the fact that special interests have significant influence in elected politics,” he said.
Noah Biesiada is a reporter for Voice of OC and a member of Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact us at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @NBiesiada.
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