State Public Salary Database Sues Department Of Education Over Public Record Request

SAN DIEGO, CA — State public salary database Transparent California filed a lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court against the California Department of Education for allegedly blocking the release of superintendent and business officer contact information in Transparent's public records requests.

The lawsuit alleges state education officials have stopped releasing contact information that Transparent California says is necessary "as part of its ongoing effort to make government pay and pension data public."

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Though the contact information for school districts' K-12 superintendents and chief business officers is available on the department's website, Transparent California alleges the department is using a legal exemption that other government agencies could use to withhold information from the public.

"They're not denying the data exists. They're not denying the public can see it on their own website right now," said Todd Maddison, director of research at Transparent California. "They just don't want to hand it over in a format we can actually use to make sure our PRA requests are received by those districts. That's not a legal exemption -- that's an inconvenience they're choosing to protect."

The California Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The exemption in question stems from CDE claims that publishing such contact information has opened school district officials to copious spam messages and security threats, though Transparent California claims no evidence has been presented to prove that assertion.

Transparent California says that a similar use of the exemption led to a legal victory against CSU San Marcos, which was ordered by a judge to disclose the requested public records and pay nearly $100,000 in costs and attorney's fees.

"Everyone, including public employees, gets spam. That's not a reason to gut the Public Records Act," Maddison said. "If CDE wins this argument, any agency in the state could use it to keep the public from being able to contact officials and employees."

— City News Service