Diane Ravitch on Edelman's Astroturf Enterprise
Yesterday I shared some reactions to a video making the rounds, in which Jonah Edelman describes the way his non-profit organization, Stand For Children, maneuvered to get legislation enacted in the state of Illinois. This seems to represent the sort of money-fueled policy that education historian Diane Ravitch has been warning us about, so I asked her for her thoughts.
What do you think that Jonah Edelman's remarks reveal about how education policy is being shaped in states across the country?
I attended the Aspen Ideas Festival but did not go to Edelman's session, which was titled "If It Can Happen There, It Can Happen Anywhere: Transformational Education Legislation in Illinois." Edelman shared the billing with James Schine Crown, a financier in Illinois. I watched the video and read the transcript. Edelman was very candid in describing the hardball political tactics that Stand for Children used to push through legislation that diminished the collective bargaining rights of teachers. But above all, he used a massive financial political kitty to woo friends and allies to his side. This is not merely an interesting anecdote about Illinois politics, but reveals tactics that are now being employed in states and districts across the nation by small numbers of very well-