Tony Thurmond, candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction, needs our help. The charter industry and billionaires are showering millions of dollars on his opponent Marshall Tuck. Despite the widespread graft and corruption in California’s charter industry, the billionaires want to continue expanding their “market share” of students and draining resources from the public schools.
Please donate whatever you can to Tony Thurmond’s campaign.
The race for state superintendent has become the key race in the state because the gubernatorial race appears to be a slam dunk for Gavin Newsom, the Democratic candidate, who is leading his little-known Republican opponent by double digits.
Tuck has been endorsed by Arne Duncan and the state Republican Party.
Thurmond has been endorsed by the California Teachers Association and the Los Angeles Times.
Think of this race as the Public School Candidate vs. the Charter School Candidate, and it explains why the usual herd of billionaires are supporting Tuck. If they can capture this key spot, California’s public schools will be in deep trouble.
“With seven weeks to go before Election Day, fundraising for Tuck has already surpassed what his supporters raised in the former school administrator’s unsuccessful run for superintendent four years ago.
“This is going to be the most expensive election, period,” said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a professor at the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy…
“Thurmond is a former social worker, school board member and council member in Richmond. Tuck is the former president of Green Dot Public Schools, a charter school organization based in Los Angeles, and CEO of the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, a district-city initiative that runs 18 district schools.
“Tuck will benefit from $10.8 million raised by an independent expenditure committee backing him as of Monday, compared to $4.9 million raised by an independent committee supporting Thurmond.
“In addition, Tuck raised $3.1 million in direct contributions to his campaign through June 30, the most recent reporting deadline, outpacing Thurmond’s $2.1 million in direct contributions…
“Wealthy donors pushing to expand charter schools in California have driven much of the spending to support Tuck so far by pouring large donations into the Sacramento political advocacy organization EdVoice For The Kids PAC, which runs the committee backing Tuck. Although EdVoice has donated to dozens of candidates over the past two years, nearly 90 percent of the money it gave as of the most recent reporting date went to its Tuck committee, which calls itself Students, Parents and Teachers supporting Marshall Tuck for Superintendent of Public Instruction 2018, a project of EdVoice. EdVoice officials did not respond to an interview request.
“Contributors to EdVoice include venture capitalist Arthur Rock, who gave $3 million, real estate developer Bill Bloomfield who gave $2.9 million and philanthropist Eli Broad who gave $1.3 million….
“Neither candidate can be simply characterized as “pro-charter” or “anti-charter.” Each has said there is a role for effective charter schools in public education and that the schools need greater transparency and oversight. They both support a ban on for-profit charter schools that was recently signed into law.
“But Tuck and Thurmond have differed over how to handle the growth of California’s charter schools, which in some areas have attracted students and state funding from traditional school districts. Thurmond has hinted he could support a moratorium on new charter schools. Tuck opposes that idea and has instead called for the state to keep in place funding for districts affected by charter school growth for a time, so those districts can adjust to lower enrollment.”
There is the key difference between them. Tuck wants to manage the continued shrinkage of public schools, while Thurmond wants to stop the shrinkage and rebuild public schools.
Here is a Tuck supporter:
“Rebecca Morgan — a former Bank of America executive and former Republican state senator from the South Bay — cited Tuck’s time in Los Angeles, where he led Green Dot Public Schools, a charter school network, and the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, as one of the reasons she supports him. Morgan has contributed $500,000 to EdVoice.
“Marshall has proven that he understands education and he knows how to turn around school districts, as he has done in Los Angeles,” Morgan said. “He is not in the pocket of any organization, as Thurmond is with the teachers union.”
“Asked how much more she is willing to spend to elect Tuck, Morgan said, “Lots.””
Diane Ravitch's blog 
“Wealthy donors pushing to expand charter schools in California have driven much of the spending to support Tuck so far by pouring large donations into the Sacramento political advocacy organization EdVoice For The Kids PAC, which runs the committee backing Tuck. Although EdVoice has donated to dozens of candidates over the past two years, nearly 90 percent of the money it gave as of the most recent reporting date went to its Tuck committee, which calls itself Students, Parents and Teachers supporting Marshall Tuck for Superintendent of Public Instruction 2018, a project of EdVoice. EdVoice officials did not respond to an interview request.”
I feel bad for public school students if he wins.
As usual with ed reform, this is about charters. Public school students are an afterthought, at best. The best they can hope for is neglect of their schools. That’s what ed reform offers public school families. Nothing. There isn’t even an attempt to offer us anything of value.
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You can “meet the team” of his backers:
https://www.edvoice.org/staff
100% ed reform. All members in good standing of the echo chamber.
Public school students are going to take another hit in service to privatization. If you’re a public school parent know that your kid and your school are the designated collateral damage while they privatize. They’ll be “winding down” your kid’s public school while she’s in it.
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“Lucia has worked in various senior education policy roles, including as COO and Director of Policy at EdVoice from March 2008 through March 2010. Prior to joining EdVoice, Lucia served as Senior Vice President for Advocacy and Policy, leading the advocacy and legal defense team at the California Charter Schools Association(CCSA). Before joining CCSA, Lucia worked as Senior Assessment Policy Liaison for Educational Testing Service, and prior to that, spent five years in Washington D.C. working as a senior official in the U.S. Department of Education and in the U.S. Senate.”
Shame that public school students in California won’t have any advocates in government.
Maybe they can hire one privately. They better do something- they have no adult representation at the table.
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Anthem for the New Feudal Order
All hail our thought leader, Bill,
And his cure for society’s ills:
Just hire some trolls
To stack rank the proles
Via tests on the Common Core skills.
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Me gusta.
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Among the worst bottom feeders of ed deform, are those at think tanks and universities who write the reports that are used to deny the kids of the middle class and working poor
the opportunity for quality schools. The kids’ parents are even willing to financially support the community schools they want. But, the greedy bottom feeding intellectual prostitutes construct a false scenario so that the richest 0.1% can concentrate their wealth.
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A sideways look into what the modern-day data game actually means: “We care about kids” = “I have a well-paying job producing manipulated data about kids.”
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Ciedie-
You’re right. The bottom feeders contribute NOTHING to GDP while mouthing words about the need for students of the middle class and poor to increase GDP. Wall Street which drags down GDP,
pays the bottom feeders to justify for-profit, faulty training compounds which fill the pockets of hedge funders or cyber monstrosities like those in Michigan and Ohio that fill the pockets of grifters or instructional materials that fill the pockets of tech tyrants. Some enterprising bottom feeders do all three simultaneously, taking the roof of decency completely off. On those suits that the bottom feeders wear, there should be decals so everyone knows which powerful men they are servicing and sharing.
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It’d be great if prominent groups within the national Dem establishment, like the Center for American Progress helped Thurmond. Were they in W. Va. when the teachers needed help? CAP released a new report this September. Unlike the one in March, it doesn’t call for the authorization of charter schools nor funding from revenue gained from selling advertising on buses.
It did have this gem, ” Invest in content-rich, varied, high quality curriculum…Research shows instructional materials can have an impact equal to or greater than the impact of teacher quality.” Proving that statement sounded like a tall order. I read the 2012 cited research and didn’t find it, contacted the source, Brown Center at Brookings, and was referred to another source. I wouldn’t bet the farm on that research.
My interpretation- Two independent discrete studies, one that looked at test scores of students in one subject area and correlated them to teacher quality (a highly subjective measurement) and the second, a study from Tennessee that showed a 0.12 to 0,14 difference in student performance, which was correlated to different curriculum models, were mashed together to draw the conclusion.
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The paper quoted as evidence about curriculum effect vs. teacher impact was co-written by Matthew Chingos. His papers were quoted 3 times in the CAP September report . Matthew Chingos is the executive editor of Education Next (Is that the Fordham EdNext?). His cv shows multiple grants from Lumina, $500,000 from Arnold for his pension work, and $650,000 from the Waltons. He currently is at the Urban Institute which is funded by Arnold, Gates and anti -Social Security, Pete Peterson, each donating at the $1,000,000 level.
The American oligarchy that replaced democracy.
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Publish widely the million dollar donations to Tuck and he will lose. (It took me a minute to write this because I haven’t stopped dancing after Villaraigosa had his million dollar donations published and lost, lost, lost. He lost!)
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Publicize the fact that the California Republican Party has endorsed Tuck. He also was endorsed by Arne Duncan, which is a signal he shares Duncan’s charter love.
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Arne and John King’s chief of staff is a senior fellow at the corporate funded Center for American Progress, founded by John Podesto.
The sum total of CAP’s liberalism is window dressing which explains its recommendations to authorize charter schools, for avoidance of taxes to make up for education cuts since 2008 and, for citing conservative Fordham scholars who are funded by Gates and Arnold.
The limousine “liberals” at the NYT’s (e.g. David Leonhardt) who are fed viewpoints by CAP, are just as portrayed by Michael Moore. They act as agents for the richest 0.1%.
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‘ Morgan said. “He is not in the pocket of any organization, as Thurmond is with the teachers union.” ‘
Heaven help us if anyone listens to the professional expertise of teachers. Everyone know that businessmen have our best interests at heart. Whenever I need medical attention, I make sure to check in with the business executives who feel qualified to tell my doctor what care I need. I am looking forward to the day when they decide who needs police or fire protection. The day is already here for many who have private companies controlling their access to water.
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When Kasich brought Koch legislation (ALEC) to Ohio, the firemen stood on the Capitol steps with a sign, “When you have a fire, call the Koch’s”. Ohioans prevailed in stopping the evil of Kasich and the Koch’s. But, the citizens haven’t been able to stop the school privatization of the richly endowed, Fordham…yet…because of the Republican anti-democracy gerrymandering.
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