The group that calls itself “Democrats for Education Reform” represents hedge fund money and Wall Street and advocates for charter schools and high-stakes testing. Although it has no evident connection to education other than its name, it has funneled campaign contributions and Dark Money into state and local elections to support privatization of public schools. It has strongly backed test-based evaluations of teachers, despite the evidence against it.
Today, the Colorado Democratic Party voted on a minority report critical of DFER. The motion required a 2/3 voice vote. It passed easily.
The motion said:
”We oppose making Colorado’s public schools private, or run by private corporations, or segregated again through lobbying and campaign efforts of the organization called Democrats for Education Reform and demand that they immediately stop using the Party’s name, I.e., “Democrat” in their name.”
To learn about DFER, read this:
Click to access IntendedConsequencesofDFER.pdf
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Really a great reputation of the dark money influence. Now, if only the big Democratic party would follow this lead. I just received a survey asking about priorities already determined… not a mention of the takeover of public schools or right to collective bargaining. I think the national party is in deep trouble. Where are the teacher unions? They should be this affirmative in supporting public education.
It seems the political professionals at CAP, the Democratic Party’s allegedly progressive think tank, haven’t learned much of a lesson on how to help public education. Read the link below for their their prescriptions for public ed: tutors for every struggling child (think public money for tutoring companies or no-pay volunteers) & a longer school day. No policy that addresses the critical teacher shortages, nothing about class sizes, nothing about expanding the curriculum to give students more choices. More resources? Nada.
How will they fund these bold, new ideas? Sell advertising on government documents & taxes on marijuana sales. Don’t demand Wall St or their billionaire donors pay their fair share. At least they didn’t use the words “rigor” or “accountability” in this paper.
If there ever was a group who was as out of touch as these folks I can’t think of any. Didn’t many of them go to private schools? Can’t they look at their own experiences & project that same model for all of our children?
The link to CAPs report will not post here- I’ve tried several times. It is entitled “7 Great Education Policy Ideas for Progressives in 2018”
by By Lisette Partelow, Catherine Brown, Sarah Shapiro, and Stephenie Johnson Posted on March 28, 2018, 9:03 am
If anyone can successfully post it here please do. I’ve tried several times & it does not appear in the comments.
The CAP report
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-k-12/reports/2018/03/28/448156/7-great-education-policy-ideas-progressives-2018/
Thank-you, Diane. WordPress has been frustrating for the past week on my end.
WordPress frustrates me daily.
A question asked how many thousands of times over the past decade: WHERE ARE THE TEACHER UNIONS? Too many “progressive” union leaders have been happy to be riding around in the same deep DFER pockets.
WORD, Ciedie Aech, WORD!!!
I wish Bernie Sanders would quit endorsing DFER candidates. It isn’t just the Democrats who are pro-charter.
I will wait forever for Sen Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders to endorse the NAACP moratorium on charters. I’m sure they have lots of reasons not to support it because after all, they do believe in “good” charters so why would they want to help the NAACP’s moratorium which might prevent those good charters they love from proliferating.
I will be happy to be proven wrong. But the progressives have been terrible on charters and some of the strongest supporters are mainstream Dems like Tim Kaine and Ralph Northam.
Yes, they & Patty Murray & Michael Bennett & every democrat on the committee voted for ESSA that gave charters & TFA more clout. Some of the more toxic fiscal sections that Warren should have stopped, included Social Impact Bonds & blending funding streams of Title 1, IDEA, & gen ed, that today has had serious consequences for every public school district in the country. Pubic schools are in a hunger games for funding as Congress & states cut more & more from the public ed budget.
At the time, Obama was pressuring the Dems to get ESSA passed late in Dec so they could claim a bipartisan victory before the presidential election. This is not the fault of one politician but the failure of the Democratic Party establishment to take a firm stand against privatization of public education. Let’s face it, since the Clinton era, Democrats viewed public-private partnerships and corporate tax incentives from the same perspective as Republicans.
If the party elite don’t change their top spokespeople are not going to buck the party. That kind of revolt needs to come from the grassroots.
That is what Sanders and Warren provide an opposition to the establishment party hijacked by Clinton in 92 ,to some degree by Carter in 76. Can they oppose every issue without being marginalized .
I do not believe that change comes from the grass roots . It comes from the top down. Leadership that steers the party in a particular direction, Leadership that ignites the imagination of the base. . Roosevelt was not led by the party . He had to cajole that party to pass the NLRA and change the course of the 20th century, dragging enough Southern Democrats on board .
Same with Johnson who freed the slaves , Jim Crow being little different from slavery . He was not driven to support Civil Rights he drove the agenda. Knowing he was turning the country over to Republicans for a generation, make that two generations.
And it was Clinton who dragged the party to hell, abandoning the base. A Manchurian candidate of the Republican right , before they became out right fascists . Clinton passed legislation that Reagan never dreamed of accomplishing.
may the teacher strikes we are seeing actually contain the spark of a true and well articulated teacher revolt: actual teachers and not national teacher union leaders must stand up and decide the demands to be won
You are a troll,forget the paper boy inFerris Bueller’s Day Off ,You are more like a Chucky movie a recurring horror that keeps coming back . It is getting tiring your main stream Democrats are the biggest recipients of corporate and hedge fund money on the planet . Your straw mans argument is so pathetic a second grader could blow it over.
It was Andrew Cuomo that was the biggest water boy for Hillary Clinton in the State of NY .. By your Logic Clinton is the devil incarnate of education reform because the pro charter ,pro voucher Cuomo carried her water. The list of mainstream democrats taking right wing corporate and Wall street money is long and deep .
And of course how can we forget that it was Obama (again) who declared National Charter Teacher appreciation week . It the is cesspool of corrupt corporate Democrats swamped by Corporate and Wall Street money who have steered the party into this debacle. Abandoning the working class base of the party and their Unions . The only vehicle as imperfect as they are that gives workers agency. Obama’s support for Clinton in your world should disqualify her.
The right and DEFER have one prime goal and it has nothing to do with the kids . It is to destroy the Union movement, the policy wonks that they hire a cover for their ruse. . The teachers Unions being one of the biggest supporters of Democrats the name DEFER in itself is an oxymoron . The sub themes divert public dollars to segregated religio fascist schools . But that is only to feed their toxic base,. Yes Perriello was once a policy wonk in that movement who claims to have seen the light. I wonder if we know anyone else on this blog who had a come to God moment about education reform.
By your logic Tim Kaine is an enemy of Public schools because he is a supporter of Right to Work laws . That keep those Teachers weak . If you don’t oppose them then you must support them . But that is the difference between you and me ,I know when I am being disingenuous. You are attacking the wing of the party that wants to shut down the toxic spigot of millionaire billionaire bucks .” Why ARE YOU HERE” At this point in a conversation I would normally go into a tirade of four letter words that make Lloyd look tame.
https://www.alternet.org/teachers-unions-under-attack-both-parties
If there is any doubt, that was addressed to NYCPSP
“I would normally go into a tirade of four letter words that make Lloyd look tame.”
Thanks, Lloyd, for providing cover for me!!! 🙂
Joel,
Why does it upset you so much that I support the Democrats who haven’t thrown public education under the bus?
Why are you even on this board where most of us believe keeping public education strong is one of the MOST important issues?
If I have a choice of a Dem who supported TPP but stands strong for public education, and one that opposed TPP but sold out public education and helped to undermine it, I will vote for the Dem who stands up for public education.
From Bernie to Sen. Warren to Jill Stein, to Jesus Christ, there are no perfect candidates. You have to vote for the candidates who stand up for what you think are most important even if they sell out something that is still important but less important TO YOU. You have to make choices.
What shocks me is hearing you claiming the moral high ground because you “only” threw public education under the bus but stood up for some trade union members to get higher wages.
There is no moral high ground here. There is deciding what you throw under the bus. You are willing to throw public education under the bus and I’m not. Let’s agree to disagree here.
By the way, the reason I don’t support Andrew Cuomo or Rahm Emanuel and I won’t — even if they throw some bone to the trades union — is because they are terrible for public education.
The reason I support Cynthia Nixon is because I don’t really care if she insulted some transit union worker, just like you don’t care if Bernie helps “reformers” destroy public schools.
I’m voting for my issue and you are voting for yours. But I’m not a hypocrite who deludes myself into thinking my choices are more moral than yours. You are a hypocrite.
We both have priorities and mine is public education and yours is the trades union. You have no moral high ground here.
Yay! This is good news. The DFERs are so wrong. The DFERs USED Public Education as one of their scapegoats. I thought this was “VERY LOW” of the DFERs.
This is good news!
Thanks, Yvonne.