Matt Barnum of Chalkbeat obtained additional portions of the postmortem analysis of why the corporate reformers lost in a state referendum to expand charter schools in Massachusetts (here is his first report). It makes for fascinating reading, both his summary and the original document itself. The Walton family and their allies invested millions in the referendum, hoping to increase the number of privately-managed charter schools in the Bay State. The Walton Education Coalition funded the postmortem, hoping to learn from the resounding defeat of the “Yes on 2” campaign.
The referendum was held in November 2016. “Yes on 2” advocated for expanding the number of charters in the state by 12 per year, anywhere in the state, indefinitely. “No on 2” warned that charters took funding away from local public schools. The YES campaign was funded by the Waltons, out-of-state financiers and corporate interests, and the New York City-based Families for Excellent Schools (FES). The NO campaign was funded mostly by the unions (including the National AFT and NEA) and small individual contributions. The YES campaign spent about $25 Million, the NO campaign spent about $15 Million. The successful message of the NO campaign boiled down to: “Do you support public schools or school privatization?”
If you read the original memo, you will see that the consulting firm really doesn’t understand why voters supported their local public schools and trusted teachers rather than the governor. Massachusetts public schools are the best in the nation, which raises the question of why the Waltons and FES decided this state was ready for privatization. Maybe they thought that if they could win in Massachusetts, they could win anywhere.
The second memo paints Massachusetts Teachers Association President Barbara Madeloni as a radical villain, because she outsmarted the charter lobbyists. She mobilized teachers and parents and did not compromise, and her side won. The consultants don’t understand or sympathize with her point of view, so they call her an “ideologue,” who “vowed to stop the corporate takeover of the public schools.” She beat the privatizers, and she rallied the public to save their public schools. I’d call her a successful strategist.
Their recommendation to the Waltons and other charter friendly groups is that in the next battle, they must activate charter teachers to sell their message, to counter the messaging of public school teachers. In liberal states, they said, the charter advocates must pretend to be liberals:
” Consider specific Democratic messages, or at least targeted messages, particularly in liberal states. Advocates should test owning the progressive mantle on education reform and charters: this is about social justice, civil rights, and giving kids a chance. While this is a problematic frame for the electorate as a whole, it may speak to the values of a Democratic electorate. The initial message recommendations to refrain from splintering the electorate was not wrong; this messaging discussing achievement gaps or inequality have sunk in other case studies. However, it could be the right approach for liberals in this new Administration.”
There is something inherently ironic—if not comical—about the notion of the far-right anti-union Walton Family donning the garb of “social justice” and “civil rights” to sell their non-union charter chains.
After the Question 2 referendum was defeated by a large margin, the Massachusetts campaign finance board fined Families for Excellent Schools $426,000 dollars for failing to reveal the names of its donors (“Dark Money”) and banned it from operating in Massachusetts for five years. Soon after, FES closed its doors in reaction to a #MeToo scandal involving its CEO.
Supporters of public schools can learn about the thinking of the charter lobbyists by reading these memos and preparing for the battles ahead, if the charter lobbyists ever again dare to compete in a referendum instead of their customary practice of giving campaign contributions to legislators and governors.
Maurice Cunningham, the University of Massachusetts political science professor who tracks Dark Money, said this on Twitter about the secret memo:
“My initial reading reaction. 1. Without Walton and Strategic Grant Partners money, there is no Q2. 2. Voters hate Walton money and corporate education interests – the whole Financial Privatization Cabal. 3. @bmadeloni was absolutely right. #MaEdu #mapoli #bospoli”
This may be ironic and comical, but it’s been a core strategy for many years: “There is something inherently ironic—if not comical—about the notion of the far-right anti-union Walton Family donning the garb of “social justice” and “civil rights” to sell their non-union charter chains.”
Back in the heyday of Edison Schools — the for-profit charter operator that was the “miracle” of the past, peaking in 2001 — packaging the for-profit privatization agenda as social justice and civil rights was the strategy, and back then, some liberals fell for it. The Nation did a paean to Edison Schools written by Peter Schrag, and Joan Walsh did an inaccuracy-laden puff piece for San Francisco magazine here in my hometown. It’s still happening — I just had a co-worker get very angry at me for saying that even supposedly progressive charter schools are part of the right-wing privatization agenda.
My guess is that this strategy was conceived and carefully laid out many years ago, and has been executed as planned all along the way.
Tracking the networks of money and influence is difficult but there are some new tools available. I hope more people who are tech savvy and interested in the issue of transparency in who is funding what will visit the Little Sis website and look at some of these efforts.
Here are three examples
https://littlesis.org/maps/2956-grant-flowing-to-knowledgeworks-2003-2017 an amazing graphic with links that show flows of money
https://littlesis.org/maps/271-eva-moskowitz-success-and-wall-street less complex but of some use in orientation.
https://littlesis.org/maps/742-clone-of-hedge-fund-billionaires-charter-schools
Get your questions and your databases ready. There is an online tutorial for the system. Little Sis is the name for a non-profit devoted to transparency. (the opposite of Big Brother).
Technology is a helpful tool in tracking the flow of cash attempting to suppress democracy.
Out of curiosity, I went to a showing last week of a documentary called ‘Teach Us All’ after an invitation from a man running for our local school board. “Teach Us All” is a slick, ed-reform film steeped in civil rights history, social justice language, and stories of successful, gifted children. The film’s executive producer is Lowell Miliken, and features John Deasey, Eva Moskowitz, The KIPP founders Michael Fienberg & David Levin, and one of the Little Rock Nine. Their talking points: social justice, civil rights, and giving kids a chance.
Not one time in the film were the words charter school mentioned but it was obvious after seeing clips of young children in uniforms, walking lockstep that the only schools featured were charters. The message was clearly targeted at liberals and communities if color who have suffered years of the indignities from institutional racism. There were so many blind spots – no children with disabilities, nothing on testing, nothing on innovative curriculum. It was story after story of education dreams fulfilled & bolstered by inspirational leaders.
This showing comes at a time when billionaires, politicians, and the Chamber of Commerce are targeting certain school board members up for re-election in Knoxville, TN. These school board members successfully unseated previous board members who rubber stamped everything the ousted Broad Superintendent wanted. The billionaires in TN are desperate to open Knoxville & East TN to more privatized charters and is using this election to divide the community along racial lines.
The completed screenings list are through universities & African American cultural centers- the very groups these privatizers are exploiting for personal gain. http://www.arraynow.com/teach-us-all
Here is the link: http://www.teachusallfilm.org/
The screening is free though Netflix.
The flyer I received said this:
The Phi Sigma Chapter (Knoxville Alumni) and the Kappa Chi Chapter (UT Knoxville) of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. will be hosting three screenings of the documentary “Teach Us All”.
TEACH US ALL is a documentary and social justice campaign on educational inequality set against the backdrop of the 1957 Little Rock school crisis. Sixty years after the Little Rock Nine faced violent resistance when desegregating Central High in Arkansas, America’s schools continue to represent the key battleground of the Civil Rights Movement. TEACH US ALL demonstrates powerful lessons from history within a timely context, emphasizing the need for unity and collective action to rectify the disparities among America’s children. The TEACH US ALL social justice campaign seeks to build the capacity of students and educators to take leadership in carrying forth the legacy of the Little Rock Nine while activating broader community engagement in today’s urgent movement for educational equity.
What a hoax! The one thing that charters NEVER do it “teach us ALL.” They pick and choose their students and dump those they don’t want.
No Lottery?
“The film .. features … KIPP founders Michael Feinberg & David Levin….“
Time for a re-edit, with the Feinberg footage hitting the cutting room floor.
It’s kind of like showing a promotional film for privatized kids’ summer camps that features Jerry Sandusky as one of the talking heads.