August 12, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

Teacher hopes to use students as campaign committee

by Bill D'Agostino

Palo Alto High School teacher David Rapaport, who recently announced his candidacy for the City Council, plans to use his two 10th grade U.S. government classes as a campaign committee, an idea that may run afoul of ethical and legal restrictions.

The point of the required classroom exercise, Rapaport said, is not to win a spot on the council but to teach students about the local political process and empower them to be more involved.

"It's not about agreeing with me," he said. "It's about becoming familiar with the process and learning to frame the issues important to them and respect the issues important to others. ... I'm doing this strictly for pedagogical reasons. Period."

Rapaport, who previously taught at Leland High School in San Jose and said he wanted to make a splash in his first year at Paly, planned to meet with top school officials Thursday afternoon and said he would "absolutely" abide by their decision and any applicable regulations.

Under Rapaport's plan, the students' involvement would be required as part of a long-term assignment. But he said students would not walk precincts and his campaign would neither raise money nor distribute lawn signs.

Instead, the students will debate local issues -- such as a recent ban on leaf blowers -- and tell Rapaport what he should say on the stump and at candidate forums.

"It's being done with the idea in mind of going beyond a simulation to something that really has consequences but not something that would be irresponsible or inappropriate," he said.

Despite those caveats, Judy Nadler, a senior fellow in government ethicist at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, called the idea "dangerous."

The important ethical question, Nadler said, is: What real or implied pressure might there be on the students or their parents?

"What happens to those students or parents who support another candidate? Do they feel they would be treated fairly if they spoke up?" she asked. "I think it takes an already complicated relationship and complicates it even further. ... The teacher has authority and influence over the students in ways you may not imagine."

Rapaport's candidacy, Nadler added, "should be cause for some serious thinking. I think if the school district doesn't have a policy it would be a good thing for them to develop one."

The teacher and council candidate defended his plan against those concerns.

State law could also be an obstacle. Although it clearly allows school district employees to run for political office, it also prohibits school district "funds, services, supplies or equipment" from being used in campaigns. Paly Principal Scott Laurence also said regulations appear to prevent teachers from using their influence to elicit political support. The principal did not, though, say he had concerns about Rapaport's idea on Wednesday.

"I'm assuming that he's thought through his obligations as a classroom teacher," he said.

If school officials tell Rapaport he can't use his candidacy as a classroom tool and he then withdrew his application, the teacher's name would likely still appear on the ballot. He filed paperwork with the City Clerk this week, before he had gotten the go-ahead from school officials. (The signatures he gathered had yet to be validated by the Weekly's press deadline.)

Asked what he would do if he won, Rapaport said he would take office but continue to have student teams dictate his conduct.

His political success, he said, "would be an absolutely powerful signal to the young people across the nation to take greater responsibility for governing the local communities."

Rapaport doesn't expect to prevail, though. When friends asked him what he would do, he thought, "What a dysfunctional town we have if I win."

Staff Writer Bill D'Agostino can be e-mailed at bdagostino@paweekly.com.

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