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I think that the jury's out
The other day, I was wandering through the Grand Jury's
recent report, simply because "Fahrenheit 9/11" hadn't opened yet and
I was fed up with rereading my past columns from The Golden Age of Shredding
- there being only so much brilliance any one person can consume on any
given day - and so there I was reading hither and yon, eagerly absorbing
facts both despicable and propitious, when I came upon an incident that
I think deserves some comment, even if you don't.
It seems the grand jury was asked to look into the Atascadero High School marching band's performance at a political rally for then-candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger. The question was this: Had the performance violated the California Education Code? Section 7054(a) says this:
"No school district or community college district funds, services, supplies, or equipment shall be used for the purpose of urging the support or defeat of any ballot measure or candidate, including, but not limited to, any candidate for election to the governing board of the district."
Now, I know exactly what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Don't I have enough to worry my brain over without having to think about this?"
No, you don't. Pay attention now. This is important. What if public school funds were used to rally the votes for political candidates that you don't like? Imagine if the football fields were tricked up for candidates à la Albrecht Speer, or if candidates could use school buses to zip from one fund-raiser to the next, and your kids had to walk - or worse, you had to drive them. A world like that could exist if we didn't have grand juries keeping the lines toed and the hoes mowed.
Well, sort of.
The grand jury, you see, did some poking about and concluded that Atascadero High School's marching band did no wrong, and that neither did candidate Schwarzenegger, the beneficiary of some Republican-flavored oom-pah-rah-rah.
Said they:
"Since the band performance in question occurred at a political rally for a gubernatorial candidate, some residents questioned whether it violated the Education Code. The performance was requested by Assemblyman Abel Maldonado, and the expense for it was billed to his office. Nevertheless, some individuals question whether this is adequate to counter the perception that Atascadero Unified School District resources were used to support a political candidate."
The cost for the bus drivers, the gas, and meals for the students came to $718.85, and, yes, it was paid for by Abel, who has yet to pick up the tab for me. The band members were not required to attend, and it didn't take place during school time.
Said the grand jury: "The [school] superintendent repeatedly emphasized that the band performance at the rally was never intended to show support for a candidate, but was considered to be simply an opportunity for the band to perform."
Because of this, the grand jury demurred, saying that, "The decision to allow the band to perform ... was made within the spirit and intent of the law as interpreted by the [Atascadero Unified School District] legal counsel and consistent with District policy."
All of which sounds just great - if you're a Republican.
Where the grand jury located such a pile of guff is beyond my paltry powers of perception. All I know is that they're wrong.
It's really pretty simple. Just because Abel paid 700 bucks for incidental costs doesn't change the fact that public school buses were used in violation of the Education Code, which, I repeat, states that "no school district or community college district funds, services, supplies, or equipment shall be used" to help someone get elected. School buses are equipment or supplies or maybe even services, and the ones at Atascadero High School were definitely used to help put Arnold's butt in the governor's mansion, no matter what the grand jury thinks.
So that's what I think about that - a minor thought about a minor matter on a tiny rock spinning around an inconsequential sun, where the only thing for certain is that there'll be more next week.
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