School Jobs: All in the Family

The criminal investigation of a school principal who allegedly hired her soon-to-be-husband and her brother-in-law for lucrative “no-show” jobs ought to spark a broad probe of nepotism in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Like a small family-owned business, the district is full of husbands, wives, siblings and significant others. These close connections are not illegal, but they increase the potential for conflicts of interest and misplaced loyalties. They also give the impression that hiring and promotion decisions are based on whom you know rather than what you know, which discourages getting the best person for the job.

Hiring relatives is far too prevalent in the district. When Don Mullinax, the new internal watchdog, asked his staff to identify relatives, spouses and cohabitants on the district payroll, about 40% indicated they had such ties. Clearly a districtwide audit is in order.

Some familiarity can be expected in a district with 70,000 employees. The level of connected employees has also been heightened by the decision of the district to hire and promote large numbers of minorities, long before big private firms integrated their professional work force. The unintended consequences are entire departments dominated by a single ethnic or racial group and a perception that one has to be a member of that particular “family” to get in and move up.

Guidelines issued a year ago by the Personnel Commission discourage the assignment of family members and spouses to the same campus or other district units. The nepotism policy is meant to deter supervision of a spouse or close relative by another, though the policy is not retroactive. The principal who hired her mother has nothing to worry about, and the man who asked his buddy to hire his wife can relax. The nepotism guidelines also do not cover girlfriends and boyfriends, although they are legion in the district and often the beneficiaries of plum jobs, promotions and contracts, at least until messy breakups change the dynamic.

Nothing has been proven in the case of the boyfriend and now husband of the former principal of Le Conte Junior High. But at least the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office is taking a closer look. As the new reform-minded school board attempts to change the culture at the school district, a spotlight should be put on relationships that appear too close for the taxpayer’s comfort.