National school reform group pumping cash into Illinois races
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SPRINGFIELD — A national education reform group has quietly dumped more than $600,000 into key Illinois legislative races this month, laying groundwork for an agenda that could include scaling back teacher tenure rights and making it harder for teachers to strike.
The source of much of that money is a mystery because of an unusual path it took from Portland, Ore., to Springfield, raising the ire of an Illinois political watchdog group. And Illinois’ two powerful teacher unions — which also have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to legislative candidates this year — are nervous about what the donors are expecting for that investment.
“Nobody puts that kind of money into legislative races to do nothing,” said Dave Comerford, spokesman for the Illinois Federation of Teachers.
Jonah Edelman, founder of the advocacy group Stand for Children, based in Portland,