Lewisville ISD rejects Paxton criticism
District won’t remove video urging teachers to vote, maintains it is not ‘electioneering’
AUSTIN — Ahead of one of the most important Texas elections of the year, Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office is cracking down on schools and districts he worries are telling people how to vote.
But one school district is pushing back.
Lewisville Independent School District officials are refusing to take down its video encouraging educators to use their “teacher voice” and vote in the election for candidates who support public education, despite a cease-and-desist letter the Texas Attorney General’s Office sent them last week.
The school district’s legal counsel argues the attorney general’s accusation that the district of unlawfully electioneering is “misleading at best and inaccurate at worst.” “As you know, uniting behind the common cause of public education is not a violation of any law, and supporting public education generally is not ‘supporting or opposing a candidate for nomination or election to public office or office of a political party, a political party, a public officer, or a measure,’” Jeff Crownover, Lewisville ISD’s general counsel, wrote in his letter to the state Monday.
Crownover accused the attorney general’s office of “jumping to conclusions” about the threeminute video and expressed disappointment that the state resorted to a cease-and-desist letter without calling the school district
or its board members to discuss the matter first.
He added that the district, which sits 30 miles northwest of Dallas, wants to work with the attorney general on the matter.
Paxton’s office said it is willing to meet with district officials but first wants to review some of the district’s internal records.
The video at the center of the attorney general’s concern features LISD Superintendent Kevin Rogers strongly urging teachers to vote in this year’s primary election, saying the Texas Legislature is attacking teachers and public education.
“If you don’t vote, our legislators do not care what you think. Is that harsh? Yes, but it is true,” Rogers said in the video. “It is time for you and me to choose legislators that serve us as constituents instead of being worried about the fringe of their party.”
Concern over whether school employees are unlawfully trying to influence elections through their government positions comes in part from Empower Texans, a conservative group that had sent letters to an unknown number of teachers and others looking for people to report instances of school districts using their platform to garner support for liberal candidates.
Paxton was asked to opine on the activities of Texas Educators Vote, a group organizing efforts to encourage teachers to go to the polls. Houston state Sen. Paul Bettencourt asked Paxton to weigh in on the group’s activities, arguing the group’s viewpoints “espouse a political perspective on education” by encouraging teachers to vote “in support of public education.”
Paxton later issued an opinion stating activities such as busing students to the polls to vote are illegal unless the trip serves an educational purpose.
“There are some who think that even illegal efforts to promote voting are good, and any effort to enforce the law is suppressing the vote,” Paxton, a conservative Republican, wrote in a guest column to the Houston Chronicle on Wednesday.
Texas is controlled by Republicans in the Legislature and in all statewide-elected offices — Democrats last won statewide election in 1994 — leaving many elections to be decided in the March primary election.
Texas also is home to chronic low voter turnout, leaving many elections in the hands of a small population of loyal voters.
“This is all designed to suppress educators from voting,” said Clay Robinson with the Texas State Teachers Association. “If a great number of educators vote, they will not be voting for candidates Ken Paxton like or Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick likes,” he said, adding the two are in favor of school vouchers that use public money to send students to private schools.
Lewisville ISD is the only one of three school districts accused of “unlawful electioneering” to refuse to comply with the attorney general’s office request to take down media or social media posts pertaining to the election.
Brazosport ISD, about 60 miles south of Houston, agreed to take down tweets and retweets from Superintendent Danny Massey applauding legislative candidates.
Holliday ISD, which sits outside Wichita Falls, also agreed to comply.