Could the current conflict between Governor Charlie Baker and the teachers unions over vaccinations be traced back to the charter schools ballot question in 2016? The Boston Globe raises that question in a story today by Adam Vaccaro, Baker, teachers unions trade barbs as educators seek quicker vaccines or delay to full school openings.
Here is the key paragraph from Mr. Vaccaro’s story:
The fight over educator vaccinations has rekindled an old rivalry between the governor and teachers unions, which in 2016 successfully campaigned against a Baker-supported referendum question to expand charter schools.
Question 2 of 2016 was at the time the highest spending ballot question in state history. The pro-charters Great Schools Massachusetts/Families for Excellent Schools side was a dark money operation funded by a handful of Boston oligarchs and by Jim and Alice Walton, WalMart heirs of Arkansas. After the election the Office of Campaign and Political Finance ordered the names of the dark money donors disclosed. FES eventually collapsed. The Save Our Public Schools committee was funded by teachers unions but run by a coalition of teachers unions and community groups. It was the union’s money but labor did not try to dominate; emphasize coalition and community groups.
In the wake of the defeat several studies were done and they all showed that the teachers and community groups connected with voters; one found that Governor Baker actually harmed the charters cause. In a subsection of a report done for the Walton Education Coalition by consultants Global Strategy Group called “Messengers Make a Difference,” GSG acknowledged that the teachers were trusted by voters but that Baker was a detriment due to suspicions about his ties to corporate interests. One survey respondent stated that
“It kind of angered me. I was like Charlie Baker I’m not going to believe you over the teachers and city councilors that I know. He’s a business guy. He’s a public official. Of course he’s on board it’s making education a business and he’s a businessman.”
In her dissertation Professor Kyla Walters found that teachers who spoke to friends and neighbors about opposition to Question 2 were trusted as “everyday spokespeople.” Remember all those t-shirt clad backers of Great Schools Massachusetts at rallies with the governor? They couldn’t match teachers on the streets. Instead the GSM side paid hundreds of thousands for paid canvassers (in fairness, the teachers side did too). Prof. Walters tells one amusing story of accompanying a GSM paid canvasser as part of her dissertation project. He described himself as “pretty torn” over Question 2. He explained “I try not to convince them to vote yes. I really use the information to work for itself. If they’re voting no, I ask them why. They usually tell me and then it could be a good point. I’ll be like, “Hmm. I agree with that.” In the time she spent with GSM paid canvassers Walters did not hear any of them attempt to make a persuasive argument.
It wasn’t just teachers though. Professor Lawrence Blum reported to the National Education Policy Center: “Parents and students did a staggering amount of work” running door-to-door canvassing and phone banks throughout the summer and fall. “Organized Black and Latino parents, sometimes working through already existing groups (such as the NAACP, the Black Educators’ Alliance of Massachusetts, and the Union of Minority Neighborhoods) targeted their particular communities.” The Globe’s Joan Vennochi wrote a column entitled With Question 2 Defeat, Voters Ignored the Elites.
Teachers? Check. Community groups and parents? Check. And don’t underestimate the important role of school committees in defeating the charters proposal. According to Prof. Walters at least 212 school committees voted to endorse the Save Our Public Schools campaign. Many superintendents did too. Notwithstanding the Republican Party’s expressed preference for local control, the school committees and superintendents are being undermined by the governor’s reopening plans.
The 2016 defeat of charters has enduring significance. The Question 2 defeat and Walton post-mortem brought us corporate “parent” groups like Massachusetts Parents United and National Parents Union (funded by the Waltons and Charles Koch, among others), both led by former Families for Excellent Schools (501c3 only) boss Keri Rodrigues. The Walton Question 2 post-mortem was clear: voters trust teachers and the privatization side needed something to counter that. Parents would be a good counter but see above, parents are already with the teachers. The Waltons response has been to create “parent” groups, lavishly funded with well-compensated mom-in-chief leaders. These organizations have gained traction. Millions of dollars of right wing money and organizing expertise will do that.
Yes, it all comes back to the battle over school privatization.
Money never sleeps. Follow the money.
[Full disclosure: as an educator in the UMass system, I am a union member. I write about dark money, democracy, oligarchy, and privatization.]