The Moms Who Defeated the Jeb Bush-Michelle Rhee Machine
Writes Kathleen McGrory in the Miami Herald:
It was one of the session’s hardest-fought battles.
On one side: a coalition of disparate, but determined parent groups.
On the other: former Gov. Jeb Bush and the powerful school-choice lobby.
With the clock about to run out, the parents overcame some of the most entrenched powers in Tallahassee and won just enough votes to kill one of Bush’s priority proposals.
“They had all of that influence and millions of dollars,” said Colleen Wood, a parent activist from St. Johns County. “We were just a bunch of moms.”
The fight was a case study in grass-roots activism fueled by astute citizens and sites like Twitter and Facebook. Some said it was an affirmation that the little guy can sometimes win, even in Tallahassee, with social media serving as the great equalizer.
“Every parent group in the state was here, or was emailing and calling legislators,” said Sen. Nan