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Retaliation: California School Administrators Develop an "Enemies List"

The Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) represents over 14,000 California school administrators. This group surveyed their membership to identify groups and parents who had been critical of schools.

The School Administrators Association organized the survey responses into a secret Enemies List. This document included the name of the group, and names of parents who were identified with the groups, and name of superintendant. There was a section for comments about the parents' subversive activities - what actions they took that earned them a place on the Enemies List.

Someone leaked the Enemies List to the press.

The Association of California School Administrators was confronted with their Enemies List. The Association said they were just trying to identify "disruptive" individuals and groups.

A copy that was circulated shows that the report is organized by district, with columns for the name of the superintendent, the name of the group, followed by names of the parents involved in the group. There was also a section for comments describing the activities of the groups and what they did to earn a place on the list.

Targeted parents were guilty of "disruptive" acts that included questioning special education placements, filing complaints with the Office for Civil Rights, and objecting to the way Parent Advisory Groups were set up.

"The existence of such a list confirms the worst fears of many parents - that schools single out parents who advocate for their children. It further suggests an adversarial and repressive attitude towards these parents - a precursor to the retaliation reported by many."

NOTE: If you have questions about the California School Administrator's enemies list, we do not have the list. We suggest that you contact the Sacramento chapter of the Learning Disabilities Association for more information.

Retaliation: A Primer, originally published in the The Observer, a newsletter published by the Sacramento LDA chapter, describes the "Retaliation Triangle" that progresses from Level I of using passive tactics to delay, Level II with the goal of frightening parents, to Level III with overt hostility with the goal of punishing parents.