The Education Upstarts
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Stand for Children
Who: Co-founder and CEO Jonah Edelman is the son of the civil-rights leader Marian Wright Edelman.
What: The most grassroots of these groups. Leads efforts to lobby state governments for reforms such as value-added teacher evaluations and more-equitable school funding.
Democrats for Education Reform
Who: Bankers, CEOs, and other wealthy Democrats. Adviser Cory Booker lends liberal star power.
What: Offers political cover to Democratic politicians who alienate teachers unions by supporting education reforms such as mayoral control of schools and national curriculum standards. Has helped loosen the unions’ grip on the party.
Students First
Who: Founded by Michelle Rhee in 2010 after she stepped down as schools chancellor in D.C.
What: Uses its 1 million–strong e-mail list to lobby for data-based teacher evaluations and against seniority-based teacher layoffs. Rhee garners lots of attention, but her group has yet to establish itself as a major player on
Just Like Michelle Rhee's Students first only BETTER
Astroturf lobbying refers to political organizations or campaigns that appear to be made up of grassroots activists but are actually organized and run by corporate interests seeking to further their own agendas. Such groups are often typified by innocent-sounding names that have been chosen specifically to disguise the group's true backers
Just Like Michelle Rhee's
Students first Astroturf lobbying (only Better)
Other Astroturf lobbying groups
Just Like Michelle Rhee's
Students first Astroturf lobbying (only Better)