Unfortunately, Boston has a new entry into the dark money politics game, the Boston Policy Institute (BPI). If you are concerned about how the power of unaccountable money erodes our politics, this is more bad news. Gintautas Dumcius of CommonWealth Beacon just did a fine piece on BPI The shadowy think tank fighting Boston City…
Category: dark money
Recommendations for Books You Should Not Read Because You Do Not Care
Last week I was in a colloquy on Twitter with a Boston political journalist and an activist, neither of whom enjoys my focus on money in politics. So, I’ll be doing more of that. But first, one thing they both say is the public does not care at all about who funds politics, especially dark…
Banned in Boston: Coverage of Walton Family Spending on K-12 Interest Groups, 2022 Edition
“So far as I can tell, in a period in which the Waltons poured more than $10,000,000 into K-12 interest groups in Massachusetts, no Boston Globe staffer has ever reported that fact.” In Just Giving: Why Philanthropy Is Failing Democracy and How It Can Do Better, Professor Rob Reich argues that “Big philanthropy is often…
Newton Public Education Faces Right-wing Assaults
Newton public education is the target of a coordinated right-wing extremist assault. The latest is a frivolous attack on Newton Teachers Association but that follows attacks on diversity programs and racist attacks on two superintendents. Wake up, folks. I wrote about Christian Nationalists Attack on Newton Teachers Association just the other day. That post featured…
What the Globe Left Out of “MTA Exerts More Power”
The Boston Globe is messing with my Golden Years and I don’t appreciate it one bit. I really want just want to play some Sudoko and rest up for the blue plate special but then the Globe goes and prints something like MTA exerts more power amid a wave of teacher strikes, generating praise and…
A Citizens Guide to School Privatization
A Citizen’s Guide to School Privatization Last week was the annual conference of the Network for Public Education and part of my contribution was an 18 page report, A Citizens Guide to School Privatization. I’ll be adding to it over time as phony billionaire “moms” and “parents” groups proliferate. For now it includes national groups…
Democrats for Education Reform: Let’s Meet the Funders
I often point out Democrats for Education Reform ’s far-right patrons like Rupert Murdoch and the Waltons but I haven’t given DFER MA’s Boston patrons enough attention. Let’s try. First, DFER is really at least three different legal structures under one roof. There’s the DFER PAC and DFER SuperPAC which have to report contributions and…
New “Ed Reform” Coalition Shows How Media Allows Billionaires to Control Narrative
According to a State House News Service report picked up at WWLP a coalition called “Voices for Academic Equity” has formed to oppose teachers’ unions efforts to amend the MCAS law. The story doesn’t say whom the coalition members represent. Simple: it’s the familiar story of capital vs. labor. But you wouldn’t know it because…
Parents for Education’s Hit and Run Job on Milton Public Schools
The Boston Globe‘s Adria Watson recently reported that Parents Defending Education has filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education against the Milton Public Schools. It sounds daunting. But PDE is not parents, it’s an obedient franchise of right-wing donors like Charles Koch. PDE’s Milton complaint is based on an email exchange…
Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance Brings Koch’s Circus to Town
Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, the Koch-tied operation, held a press event in Boston with other New England Koch allied fronts and I always wonder what milquetoast description the media that cover MFA will hide behind. How about “fiscal watchdogs” (Boston Herald)? Or this one: “Business-minded, small government groups.” Here’s one I’ve seen often: “right-leaning.” MassFiscal is…