Ethics Office - San Diego Unified School District

3. Public Trust

As public servants, we will act to earn, promote, and maintain the public’s trust and confidence in the San Diego Unified School District.

Overview
Examples
Resources

Overview
As employees of SDUSD, we are public servants. We are stewards of public resources and the public’s trust in its education system. We have a special role. Parents entrust to us their most precious family members—their children.

Ethics is about:

doing the right thing, and
the public's confidence that the right thing is being done.

We each take personal responsibility for the reputation of the district. When making decisions, we first determine the right thing to do, which is sometimes difficult due to gray areas and ethical dilemmas. We then step back and ask: might the public view it differently?

If the answer is yes, we re-think. We avoid taking actions that may undermine the public’s confidence in the good intentions or integrity of SDUSD.

“It takes many good deeds to build a reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.”

– Benjamin Franklin

Examples
As public servants and caregivers of students, we often give much of ourselves to our work. This worthy commitment may lead some to think it may be okay to put in for overtime pay for hours not actually worked, to take advantage of personal financial benefits stemming from one’s district position, or to accept special “perks,” like sports tickets, from vendors or other businesses.

“If you find yourself rationalizing that you deserve some special benefit, stop yourself,” urges the Institute for Local Government. “You are likely on the path to a legal or ethical misstep.”

Such missteps can certainly hurt you as an individual. But since the public often reacts to wrong-doing by painting everyone with the same brush, the entire school district suffers and, as a result, so do the students and community we serve.

If you’re not sure whether an action you’re considering meets ethical standards, your best course is to confer with your supervisor, manager or department head. It also helps to apply tests like these:

The butterfly test (How does your stomach feel?)
The authority test (What would your mother, your mentor or other respected role model say?)
The public scrutiny test (How would it look on the front page of tomorrow’s newspaper or on the six o’clock news?)

Resources
“Doing the Right Thing: Putting Ethics Principles into Practice in Public Service.” Institute for Local Government, 2006. (pdf)

“Three Quick Tests for Ethical Congruence,” by Frank J. Navran, Ethics Resource Center, 1996.

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