Now here is a conundrum: Why would the charter school lobby donate $50,000 to a candidate for State Attorney General who is already backed by the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the teachers’ union?
Steven Singer poses that question here. Pennsylvania is a state that is rife with charter school scandals. Such scandals would normally be investigated by the State Attorney General. Duh. If Josh Shapiro gets elected, let’s see how vigorous in investigating the scandals that Singer links to in his blog, and how vigorously he prosecutes the charlatans and frauds who are profiting off the gullibility of parents.
Singer asks:
What’s the best way to avoid a charter school scandal?
In Pennsylvania, apparently you bribe the Attorney General.
That may be why Students First PAC donated $50,000 to Josh Shapiro, a Democrat running for the position.
This political action committee is not to be confused with the infamous national group founded by Michelle Rhee. Students First PAC is a state organization that typically contributes to charter school friendly candidates.
And $50K is quite a chunk of change in a State Attorney General race – the office in charge of prosecuting charter schools for breaking the law.
Charter school scandals have been an almost weekly occurrence throughout the Commonwealth. Chester Community Charter School, the state’s largest brick-and-mortar organization, is under investigation for pocketing $1.2 million “in improper lease-reimbursement payments.” As Philadelphia public schools are being closed due to a miserly state budget, “nonprofit,” charter operator Aspira Inc. was caught using public money to boost its real estate holdings instead of using those funds to educate children. Nicholas Trombetta, the founder of Pennsylvania’s largest cyber charter, an institution that operates exclusively over the internet, “was charged with fraud, for funneling $8 million of the school’s funds into his personal companies and holdings.”
It’s easy to see how having the state Attorney General on your side would benefit an industry rife with fraud and malfeasance.
Shapiro, chair of the Montgomery Country Board of Commissioners, is the odds on favorite to succeed Kathleen Kane as the state’s highest ranking law enforcement officer.
He is running for the Democratic nomination against Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli, and Allegheny Country Attorney General Stephen Zappala.
Despite strong corporate education reform ties, Shapiro has been endorsed by the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA), the largest teachers union in the Commonwealth.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Welcome to the big leagues where everyone with the cash or clout tries to win favor by donating to the front runner. Does that mean bribery? That’s quite an accusation. Did the teachers union endorse the wrong candidate? Or is everyone trying to show support for the person likeliest to win?
No doubt the system needs to change, but not everyone playing by the current rules is evil.
LikeLike
What we need is a yuge political revolution. Strike down Citizens United, reinstate Glass-Steagall, and tell the billionaire class they can’t have it all. Can you Feel it?
–Left Coast Luminescencor
LikeLike
Left Coast, I think you can call yourself an “Illuminator”
LikeLike
Agreed.
No doubt the system needs to change which why I hope Pennsylvania’s teachers will come out strong on primary day for Bernie Sanders, and not the union endorsed candidate. Bernie will give us a Supreme Court which will end Citizens United, uphold McCain-Feingold, and get us back on a track to taking corporate money out of politics.
LikeLike
Ha! Diane, in all seriousness though, I’m in West Los Angeles. If I called myself an Illuminator, my students would all think I killed Tupac, and worshipped Lucifer at Hollywood Illuminati orgies.
LikeLike
Democracy Awakening rally, in D.C, April 16-17. There’s a website.
LikeLike
Diane,
Why bother posing this question?
Instead of posing this attorney in an unsavory light, which he fully deserves, let’s not forget to pose the union in an unsavory light as well.
The union has been double dipping and cheating, lying, stealing, and helping itself to self- serving deals for about 20 years now. They are not a union that has teachers’ interests in mind.
Does ANYONE get that?
They are a union in business strictly for themselves, and they are grabbing straws as a desperate attempt to retain their “seat at the table”. . . . .
(No, I did not wish for Friedrich’s to win, but it still leaves our unions the FINAL opportunity to reinvent themselves, and we will wait and watch to see if they really do, even if the same rotting heads are making the whole fish stink!).
LikeLike
Thanks so much for writing about this, Diane. I am very worried about my home state. We’re going charter school crazy. The industry is gaining immense control in the legislature on both sides of the aisle as ALEC written bills are being pumped onto the floor. We need candidates to proudly refuse to accept donations from corporate education reformers. We need our teachers union to stand against all this nonsense. That’s why I wrote this article and have been getting a lot of flack from my fellow Democrats for doing it. Don’t be mad at ME. Shapiro can still return the money he got from Students First PAC. The Pennsylvania State Education Association can rescind its endorsement. And if they don’t, PA voters can cast ballots for other AG candidates (I like Stephen Zappala). Teachers can vote for new leadership in the PSEA. We all have options. Don’t kill the messenger.
LikeLike