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Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Kansas City: “Never Seen This Kind of Money” in School Board Races | Diane Ravitch's blog

Kansas City: “Never Seen This Kind of Money” in School Board Races | Diane Ravitch's blog
Kansas City: “Never Seen This Kind of Money” in School Board Races



The Kansas City Star reported on an unprecedented injection of money into the city’s local school board races. An unknown group with unknown donors has given more than $100,000 to pro-charter candidates. This concealment is known as Dark Money.

A newly formed nonprofit has already pumped tens of thousands of dollars into two contested races for the Kansas City Public Schools board, raising suspicions about the group and the candidates vying for seats in Tuesday’s election. 

Blaque KC, short for Black Leaders Advancing Quality Urban Education, has spent more than $100,000 on political consultants, mailed advertisements, radio spots, digital advertising and newspaper ads, according to reports filed this week with the Missouri Ethics Commission. That eclipses the combined fundraising haul of about $42,400 reported by campaign committees for the four candidates — including the two candidates backed by Blaque — running for contested seats on the board. 

While campaign committees regularly report individual CONTINUE READING: Kansas City: “Never Seen This Kind of Money” in School Board Races | Diane Ravitch's blog