TUSTIN : Teacher Forced Out of Board Race Sues
A Tustin schoolteacher who was forced to withdraw from the Orange County Board of Education race under a state law prohibiting school district employees from running for county school boards filed a lawsuit Thursday to challenge the statute in federal court, his attorney said.
Kent Moore, a teacher in the Tustin Unified School District, filed papers in February to run in the June 5 election for the seat representing Trustee Area 5 on the County Board of Education but withdrew after being informed of the state law, attorney Paul Crost said.
Crost said he believes that the statute is unconstitutional.
The suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court, names the County Department of Education, the Orange County registrar of voters and the state attorney general as defendants.
Crost said the case will not be heard in time for Moore to run in the June 5 election. He said Moore filed the suit “in the interest of opening up the door for other school employees to run for county seats.”
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