Re “What UPCC Stands for”
[Editor’s Note: The President of the School Board was asked his opinion this afternoon of the just-formed parents union.]
I'm not sure what to think about United Parents of Culver City.
I am always a supporter of active community members and organizing around better education.
If this group is about organizing parents to better advocate for their kids in front of the District, I look forward to working with them.
After all, every single School Board member and every single employee of our District is in favor of what is best for our students.
However, what bothers me is that this group has formed a political action committee (PAC), to my knowledge the first independent PAC that we have had in Culver City history.
Yes, existing groups (like the local branch of the Chamber of Commerce and the local unit of the Democratic Party) have PACs.
But to have one started locally moves us down a potentially scary road.
I spend my days teaching government. So I study quite a bit about the proliferation of PACs at the state and federal levels.
The amount of soft money that has been brought to the process and the number of negative advertisements that have been created have really hurt our national dialogue.
I hope this group focuses on the positive work of advocacy and not the negative work associated (accurately) with PACs.
Mr. Silbiger may be contacted at ksilbiger@juno.com
