Town Square

Post a New Topic

School Board Seats Getting Expensive

Original post made by Bay Area Native, Pleasanton Valley, on Aug 18, 2020

Look no further than our local school board election to see how money influences politics. With each election the cost to run increases significantly. As recently as 2014 a new candidate (i.e. not an incumbent)raised a few thousand dollars to get elected.

In 2016 a new candidate (currently running for re-election) raised over $13K to get elected. This included $3,000 from a local swim coach, $500 from another Trustee's campaign fund and $500 from a current PUSD teacher.

For 2020 one new candidate has already raised $14K in two months (period ending 6/30 so likely much higher by now). That's about 2/3 of the stipend, for the entire term, if elected.

Money has always influenced state and national elections. Office seekers become beholden to those who can provide the needed dollars to get elected. It's sad to see our city elections now have financial requirements that may preclude some good candidates from running.

Stay informed about how much candidates are raising and who is contributing to their campaigns.

Web Link

Comments (5)

Posted by Bay Area Native
a resident of Pleasanton Valley
on Aug 19, 2020 at 4:15 pm

Bay Area Native is a registered user.

Looks like that link isn't working. Try this one.

Web Link


Posted by Pleasanton Parent
a resident of Pleasanton Meadows
on Aug 19, 2020 at 7:36 pm

Pleasanton Parent is a registered user.

We need to ban the teacher’s union. It’s harmful to children’s education


Posted by timbuk2
a resident of Birdland
on Aug 20, 2020 at 1:51 pm

timbuk2 is a registered user.

@Pleasanton Parent. Agreed! And harmful to my tax bill.


Posted by Another Pleasanton Parent
a resident of Vineyard Avenue
on Aug 21, 2020 at 1:55 pm

Another Pleasanton Parent is a registered user.

1) How are those candidates who have disclosed financials so far benefitting from the teachers union? If you look at the list of donors, you won't see CTA or APT on there. It has all been individual contributions.
2) How does advocating for rights as an employee hurt students? Teachers are the ones in close contact with students on a regular basis but receive peanuts relative to the administrators who want to control all aspects of the education experience. Wouldn't paying teachers more money attract better quality teachers?
3) Do you also dislike police unions? Firefighter unions? Are you anti-union in general because you don't want workers to have rights?
4) For those who don't like "tax bills" do you not like public service? Did you never benefit from those services? Maybe your tax bill is high because the level of education those teachers provide have caused your property values to skyrocket while you sit there and reap the benefits?


Posted by Fact Checker
a resident of Downtown
on Aug 21, 2020 at 11:56 pm

Fact Checker is a registered user.

Agree that contribution info is something to consider but it also costs over $1800 just to file and have a ballot statement for school board. Costs go up every election because there are now over 46,000 registered voters in Pleasanton.


Don't miss out on the discussion!
Sign up to be notified of new comments on this topic.

Email:


Post a comment

Sorry, but further commenting on this topic has been closed.

Stay informed.

Get the day's top headlines from PleasantonWeekly.com sent to your inbox in the Express newsletter.

Common Ground
By Sherry Listgarten | 1 comment | 1,222 views

Eating retro with TV dinners
By Deborah Grossman | 5 comments | 1,083 views

Labor unions win big in Sacramento
By Tim Hunt | 5 comments | 984 views