Carol Burris and Darcie Cimarusti of the Network for Public Education spent months assembling a portrait of the Dark Money that is now pouring in to local school board races, not to save schools or improve them, but to privatize them.
Valerie astrauss posted their shocking expose here.
Strauss begins:
“The Denver Post’s editorial board recently published a piece endorsing four candidates running for the Denver school board, all of them in support of reforms that employ some basic principles of for-profit businesses to the running of nonprofit public education. The editorial calls their opponents “anti-reformers” (as if they oppose making things better for students) and says they “enjoy plenty of money and energy.” (That, apparently, includes a 19-year-old “anti-reformer” candidate who just graduated from high school.)
“Here’s what it doesn’t mention: the big out-of-state money behind the editorial board’s chosen candidates. This is a phenomenon that we’ve seen for years now, one in which some of America’s wealthiest citizens back school board candidates — even in states in which they don’t reside — to push their view of how public schools should operate. It has happened in Louisiana, California, Minnesota, Arkansas, Washington, etc.
“This is a detailed post explaining the flow of dark money — funds donated to nonprofit organizations that spend the money to influence elections but do not have to disclose where they got it — by looking at the Denver school board race. There are four open seats on the seven-seat board and a total of 10 candidates.”
Who are these billionaires and millionaires who are spending huge sums to buy acquiescence to privatization, whether in Denver or Massachusetts or elsewhere?
Read on.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“The Denver Post’s editorial board recently published a piece endorsing four candidates running for the Denver school board, all of them in support of reforms that employ some basic principles of for-profit businesses to the running of nonprofit public education. The editorial calls their opponents “anti-reformers” (as if they oppose making things better for students) and says they “enjoy plenty of money and energy.” (That, apparently, includes a 19-year-old “anti-reformer” candidate who just graduated from high school.)”
This echo chamber effect is going to kill ed reform. It’s a chorus. Dissenters are purged.
They can’t even support or defend a public school at this point- ANY public school- they get kicked out of the club. The “movement” demands absolute adherence – they all sound the same and they all push the same things at the same times.
There isn’t a dime’s worth of difference between what DeVos pushes and what Duncan pushes and what the Denver Post pushes. They’re quibbling over regulatory details at this point. All the big decisions have been set in stone and there is no evidence on earth that will budge them.
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Well said. As for the “it’s a chorus, dissenters are purged,” you are exactly on target. In Denver years and years have gone by with only the most minimal recognition in ANY news outlet that dissent even exists — or that this dissent is anything more than a few disgruntled union members.
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In Denver and other places, the media pretend that the only objection to privatization and test frenzy comes from the unions, as though citizens don’t care about public schools and honesty and good education.
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Here’s an example of the rigorous “debate” in ed reform:
“Last week, I opened my Facebook page to an article which explained how the Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE), an anti-public education think tank nestled within UW Bothell, is making waves nationally.
I wasn’t surprised.
As a UW student, who signed up for the only “Education Policy” elective offered in my program, I learned first-hand how CRPE views public education, and witnessed first-hand how they conduct their own classroom.
Robin Lake and Bethany Grove, the co-instructors of the CRPE course, presented the argument that business models were more equitable and efficient than traditional public schools, and that the only way to reform education was to dismantle it and replace it with charters that will constantly open and close according to their “results”. The goal was never “better schools overall”. The goal was the ability to close “bad” schools.”
No dissenting opinions, no other alternatives to privatization presented, and this was a class! Students paid for this! Imagine what it’s like at one of those ed reform conferences where public schools are completely excluded from high-level plans to “reinvent” education.
https://seattleducation.com/2017/10/29/my-experience-as-a-student-with-the-center-for-reinventing-public-education/
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Public education is under assault on all sides. On the right we have ALEC with their ready made “to go” education bills, and on the left we have DFER. Both of these groups have few scruples when it comes to winning. Their main goal is winning at any cost. Maybe we need to change the rules about funding school board election. Since school boards are a form of local governance, perhaps campaign donations should be limited to those that live within the local districts. Otherwise, it results in school board seats for sale. Also, the government needs to crack down on political action groups that enjoy tax exempt status. Laws mean nothing if they are not enforced.
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Yes to your post and especially to: “Maybe we need to change the rules about funding school board election. Since school boards are a form of local governance, perhaps campaign donations should be limited to those that live within the local districts.”
BIG MONEY is gobbling up everything in this GILDED age of TYRANNY by Corporations and the monied interests…politicians for sale.
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Anyone know about Dark Money in Pennsylvania? Specifically, Lower Merion, PA?
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Here’s some old data. This blogger could probably give you access to more current data.
http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2011/06/follow-money-contributions-by-vahan.html
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So, a Denver voter here — the “dark money” seems to be flowing to Barbara O’Brien in the at-large election. There are two other candidates in the race who are both opposed to the school choice platform: Julie Banuelos, who seems to be the candidate sponsored by the teachers’ union, and Bob Speth, who is the “common-sense parent” candidate. If the main goal is to keep O’Brien and her dark-money backers out, which way to vote?
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Denver Voter:
The Denver school activists I trust are Our Denver Our Schools.
Here are their candidates:
Our Denver Our schools (ODOS) endorsed Xochitl “Sochi” Gaytan, southwest Denver district 2, teacher Dr. Carrie Olson in central Denver district 3, recent graduate Tay Anderson in northeast Denver district 4, and Robert Speth at large.
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This was a bombshell over 45 years ago when the John Birch Society made this successful scheme a reality by pouring cash into school board race in Vista, California. Guess the rest of the country prefers to watch Dancing With the Stars than reading the news from LA.
We, in the LA area have been reporting on the billionaires who refined this scenario this decade, and in the last LAUSD BoE demolished real candidates by feeding the privatizers over $14 Million to win. The election here two years ago gave us the now indicted potential felon, Refugio Rodriguez, who joined with the very infamous lying and manipulating Monica Garcia, and now two more of the charter purveyors are in as well, Gonez and Medvoin…and they have taken it all over. A fait accompli. We who believe in public education have lost!!!!
Broad, Waltons, and the greed meisters are in complete control of the District. And Rodriguez has refused to take a leave of absence in the midst of one felony charge, while a far more serious charge awaits him. The Supt. Michelle King has taken an indefinite leave however claiming a mysteryous bout of ill health. The crooks abound…and the world has watched this anshluss for years…and now this bit of news is called a current ‘bombshell.’ It is yesterday’s news. Even the slow to react folks at the LA Times have been reporting on this…yes, before Valerie Strauss.
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Addendum…the Koch Bros, and their shadow government, ALEC, have been working to use this system to change public schools (from pre school through university) into instruments for their brand of “free market” takeover philosophy in America. Where were all the ostriches as this information was shared here.
Again, some of us have been writing about this here, and everywhere, for years. So how is this now a “bombshell”???
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Ellen,
It is a bombshell to most people, not to you. Most people don’t know that a small number of very rich people are buying school board races in key cities and states for the DeVos-Koch-Walton-Broad philosophy.
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Ellen,
It,s not over until it’s over. There are more elections. Massachusetts defeated Dark Money. Maybe LA can do, if the public wakes up. Most people have no idea that Broad, Gates, Koch, and DeVos are working towards same nefarious ends, along with so-called progressives Dems in Silicon Valley.
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Diane…when only about 8% of registered voters even bother to vote (as in the last LA BoE election), and when most of their votes are based on 10 second sound bites produced by nefarious ‘dark money’ sources, it becomes ever more clear about how the preponderance of the American public has sold out and how unthinking folks prefer to be manipulated.
This has given us the ignorant clown, Trump, as leader of the world….with all the accompanying dangers.
The question is why has this happened and can it be combated? Motor voter sign ups of even more uninformed voters is NOT the answer.
As educators, it seems to me that we need to focus on what we have done over many decades, that has led to this. Instead of mantras of self protection and self promotion, we must take hard looks into teacher training and curriculum development, as we also work as citizens and speak out on union activity and/or inactivity, and on how our own behaviors toward public policy, voting, and a plethora of dim interest, has cooked the academic books.
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In South Carolina the public schools have been under attack for years by a New York developer named Howard Rich. Now there are “charter schools” everywhere. They are no better than the public schools, in some cases worse, but somebody somewhere is making money off of them, and that’s all that matters.
Rich keeps trying to get “school choice” passed, so far without success. “Choice” is when you get a tax voucher to move your kids to a private school. It’s not enough to cover the whole bill, so only the rich can afford to do it. It’s basically a public subsidy for private schools. Shameful.
Our democracy and our schools are under attack. Voters need to ask hard questions about everyone on the ballot. Unfortunately, most don’t.
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