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…
Category: dark money
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…
Yvonne Abraham Explains Why Robert Kraft and Jim Davis “would be fools to appear in their own ads”
On Sunday the Boston Globe’s Metro columnist Yvonne Abraham wrote The face of opposition to Question 1 admits proposed tax wouldn’t hurt him much: ‘I’m not struggling.’ The face of opposition was Leo Cakounes who made some standard conservative talking points about government and then Ms. Abraham got to the important point: Fair enough. But…
Bidding Now Open in the Political Futures Market
The Boston Globe’s Matt Stout reported with some amazement yesterday on a new SuperPAC “that could command millions of dollars” for the sparse political investment of the office of lieutenant governor. There’s no reason for amazement if you understand things like the Lexington (KY) Selected Yearling Sale. The sale is one of several occasions when…
New York Times Covers AG’s Race and Misses the Story
Last week as the Massachusetts Democrats gathered in convention the New York Times rolled out Inside the Audition for Democrats’ Next Crusading Attorney General projecting the race for the party’s nominee as a signal of where the national party is headed. Then the Times just went for the usual horse race stuff. Too bad because…
The Barr Foundation-Hostetter Political Team
The Waltons Political Team of Arkansas tosses millions of dollars around to privatize Massachusetts public schools but they can’t do it alone. They need local investments and lately they’ve been getting a lot of them from the Barr Foundation and its patron, Boston billionaire Amos Hostetter. Let’s take a look. First, a little political science….
School Privatization Week: The Walton Family’s Massachusetts Political Team 2019
I noticed in the Sunday Globe that Governor Baker has proclaimed this “School Choice Week” and I thought, what better time than School Privatization Week to re-up some of my favorite dark money and the politics of school privatization posts? Today let’s take another look at this one from 2019, The Walton Family’s Massachusetts Political…