“So long as I do not firmly and irrevocably possess the right to vote I do not possess myself.  I cannot make up my mind—it is made up for me.  I cannot live as a democratic citizen, observing the laws I have helped to enact—I can only submit to the edict of others” – – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

This quote is from Dr. King’s “Give Us the Ballot, We Will Transform the South” speech in 1957

To respectfully paraphrase Dr. King, District Deeds says to the San Diego Unified Board of Education:

“Give Us the Vote, We Will Transform the San Diego Unified School District”

President Lyndon Johnson, a main sponsor of the 1965 Voting Rights Act of 1965 said:

“A man without a vote is a man without protection.”

To be direct, the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) Stakeholders are the modern equivalent of “second class citizens”, with no vote and no protection against the blunders and inexperience of Superintendent Cindy Marten

• Our Stakeholder ideals and beliefs are ignored and misrepresented to the Board of Education.

• There has been a “dumbing down” of the SDUSD through firings and re-assignments of highly qualified educators by an unsure and inexperienced Superintendent who is afraid of those with better credentials.

• Ignorance of the many key responsibilities for success of a large district Superintendent is amplified and filtered through the “appreciative lens” of the limited administrative background of a 3 year Elementary Principal.

The result, as listed in  Introduction ,  Part 1A – The Marten Mindset , and Part 1B – Marten Blunders Speak Louder Than Words is:

Absolute Certainty + Absolute Inexperience + Absolute Power =

Absolute Administrative Disaster

In the Introduction we described in detail the unlawful actions and abuse of power that prompted the requirement for the Stakeholder Vote.

In Part 1A “The Marten Mindset” we used the formula above to illustrate the depth and breadth of the Incompetent Elementary School Superintendent Cindy Marten mindset.

In Part 1B we provided numerous Marten blunders created by her indifference to Stakeholder input…SDUSD Stakeholders including Teachers, Parents Students, Principals, Administrators, Staff, Community Members, District Approved Committees (including SSC, ELAC, DAC, DELAC, etc.) and even the SDUSD Board of Education!

In the final installment of this series, “Part 2 – Initiate Direct Democracy Through the San Diego Unified Stakeholder Voting Civil Right!” we  will propose a way for the SDUSD to set up the Stakeholder Vote fairly, efficiently and effectively and provide the civil rights we deserve as part of our democratic society.

Through the Introduction, and Parts 1A and 1B we have described WHY SDUSD Stakeholders need the VOTE.

Let’s clearly profile the scope and scale of the SDUSD.

The SDUSD has:

• An annual budget of OVER 1 BILLION DOLLARS – a larger budget than many California Cities AND Counties
• Has over 13,500 employees . . the ninth largest employer in San Diego. 6,000 of the employees are Teachers which means over 7,000 employees are NOT in the classroom.
• 131,252 Students – more “citizens” than many California Cities AND Counties

Obviously the budget and constituency of the SDUSD, since it FAR overshadows existing California Cities and Counties, is justified in having a voting process for major initiatives,

The steps to giving the VOTE to SDUSD is very simple, well within the ability level of even this Superintendent.  It’s as simple as 1, 2, 3, 4! 

District Deeds provides some general recommendations below only for illustration purposes.  The real guidelines should be identified by a statistically representative group of SDUSD Stakeholders based on actual membership in each group

1. Identify WHAT TYPE of elections the SDUSD should implement for Stakeholders

District Deeds recommends that the SDUSD follow the current protocols established by the State of California for DIRECT DEMOCRACY Initiatives, Mandatory Referendums (People Veto) and Optional Referendums.  A good description of each can be found at the following link:  California Ballot Proposition Descriptions

2. Identify WHEN DIRECT DEMOCRACY Elections should be implemented.

District Deeds recommends that a maximum of 2 elections be held per year with the capacity for special emergency elections available with specific requirements.  Logically they should be held in late November and in May over a 2 week period to enable maximum participation and alignment with budgeting and administrative requirements.

3. Identify HOW DIRECT DEMOCRACY Elections should be implemented.

The simplest way to implement the elections are through the internet.  Through a search, costs for online voting for 200,000 Voters range from $8,000 to $30,000 per election.  Additional write in or paper ballots could be utilized for those voters not available, indisposed, or without internet access.

This cost could be significantly reduced with a partnership with the City of San Diego who uses SDUSD facilities for City, County, State and Federal elections and may be able to contribute both oversight and equipment to the effort.   

In addition, students could serve as precinct leaders to enhance both their public service and experience for college enrollment.

4. Identify WHO should VOTE in the DIRECT DEMOCRACY Elections.

This election should be as inclusive as possible so District Deeds recommends the following:

• PARENTS AND STUDENTS: Every Family deserves a vote for EVERY Student they have attending a school in the SDUSD. If the family has 5 students, the family has 5 votes…if they have 1 student, they should have 1 vote.  The Family can be identified by Student ID #’s of each student in the family.

• SDUSD EMPLOYEES:  Every Employee should have 1 vote.  This vote IS IN ADDITION to any votes they have for children attending the SDUSD.  The Employee can be identified by their employee ID #

• COMMUNITY MEMBERS: Any Community Member can be provided a voter ID through providing proof of 20 hours of volunteer service to the SDUSD in the previous school year.   

There is now NO REASON FOR THE BOARD OF EDUCATION to deny SDUSD Stakeholders the DIRECT DEMOCRACY VOTE.

As the first step to GET SDUSD STAKEHOLDERS THE VOTE, CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK AND SIGN THE PETITION!

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/GIVEUSTHEVOTE

Be sure to EMAIL THIS LINK TO ALL CONCERNED SDUSD STAKEHOLDERS WHO WANT THE RIGHT TO VOTE IN THE SAN DIEGO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT!

HERE IS IS AGAIN:  http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/GIVEUSTHEVOTE