Why Is Cardona’s Department of Education Partnering with an Astroturf Parent Organization? | janresseger

Why Is Cardona’s Department of Education Partnering with an Astroturf Parent Organization? | janresseger

Why Is Cardona’s Department of Education Partnering with an Astroturf Parent Organization?

Parents whose children are enrolled in public schools across in the United States have traditionally joined the PTA—affiliated with the national Parent Teacher Association—or an unaffiliated PTO—a Parent Teacher Organization, but few would have had the opportunity to join the National Parents Union.  PTAs and PTOs embody the principle that parents and teachers are together responsible for the well-being of the school’s students.

On first glance, you might notice how the name of the National Parents Union is different from the names of the more traditional parents’ organizations. First, “teachers” are not named as collaborators. And the National Parents Union is called a “union.” Those two features of the organization’s name might make you suspicious that this is some sort of parents’ group against teachers unions. And, it seems you might be correct.

The National Parents Union is an Astroturf organization founded in 2020. Astroturf organizations pretend to represent the grassroots, but instead they advocate for the interests of their big funders. It is helpful to know who these groups are, so that you can keep straight about what they stand for and who they really represent.

Maurice Cunningham, a professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, has thoroughly researched and exposed the abuses by Astroturf organizations in the past, most notably the New York dark money group, Families for Excellent Schools Action, CONTINUE READING: Why Is Cardona’s Department of Education Partnering with an Astroturf Parent Organization? | janresseger

Maurice Cunningham: Questions for the “National Parents Union” | Diane Ravitch's blog

Maurice Cunningham: Questions for the “National Parents Union” | Diane Ravitch's blog

Maurice Cunningham: Questions for the “National Parents Union”

Maurice Cunningham is a political science professor at U of Mass who specializes in following the money, especially Dark Money, where the donors are anonymous.

The Koch-Walton backed National Parents Union is experiencing turmoil at the top and severe mismanagement with two boards of directors featuring revolving directors and a disappeared co-founder.. 

The organization is holding a convening on May 15 and its members should demand some answers. 

Here are questions they should be asking the leadership. Any media member who would like to learn about who is pulling the strings at NPU, feel free. 

1. National Parents Union has two boards of directors, one board listed on the NPU webpage, and another on record with the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s Corporations Division. The website board CONTINUE READING: Maurice Cunningham: Questions for the “National Parents Union” | 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 | 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

Maurice Cunningham: Who Got Suckered? Secretary Cardona or Readers of The74? | Diane Ravitch's blog

Maurice Cunningham: Who Got Suckered? Secretary Cardona or Readers of The74? | Diane Ravitch's blog

Maurice Cunningham: Who Got Suckered? Secretary Cardona or Readers of The74?

Maurice Cunningham is a professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts. His specialty is following the gobs of money poured into “education reform.” His exposes of Dark Money in the 2016 charter expansion referendum was a crucial element in turning the public against the referendum (you can read more about him in his blogs and in my book Slaying Goliath.)

In this post, published here for the first time, Professor Cunningham writes about the innocence or naïveté of Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, who met with a billionaire astroturf group and thought he was reaching out to ordinary parents and families.

Cunningham writes:

Who Got Suckered, Secretary Cardona or Readers of The74?

“The Pro-privatization education blog The74 recently published To Rebuild Trust with Families, Ed. Dept. Seeks Input from Outspoken Parents Group. The story purports to be about how Department of Education Secretary Miguel Cardona “seeks” the advice of parents and thus turns to the National Parents Union. But the CONTINUE READING: Maurice Cunningham: Who Got Suckered? Secretary Cardona or Readers of The74? | Diane Ravitch's blog

IGNORANCE OR INTENTION – Dad Gone Wild

IGNORANCE OR INTENTION – Dad Gone Wild

IGNORANCE OR INTENTION

“A true opium of the people is a belief in nothingness after death – the huge solace of thinking that for our betrayals, greed, cowardice, murders we are not going to be judged.”
― Czeslaw Milosz

 

Most people enter into the education world through a desire to work with children and make a meaningful impact on the world’s future. We are greeted upon entry, by slogans like, “All children matter”, and “Children First.” Groups proliferate the scene with benign names like “Tennesseans for Student Success” and “Student’s First” and such. Lately, a newly founded non-profit with the moniker, Parents Defending Education is gobbling up headlines. Sounds great, until you take a peek behind the curtain and see some familiar faces.

Stay in the game long enough and you start to become a little cynical. You start to realize that serving all kids, translates into serving most kids, or some kids. Which kids fall into the bucket, largely seems to be the ones that generate the most income, both from private donors and federal programs. There is no payday in championing gifted children or those from wealthier families, but an executive director can make a great deal of money attaching their mission statement to an underserved population. For evidence, you just need to look at the salaries for ED’s of non-profits active in Tennessee. Salaries that far eclipse those of teachers and principals.

• John King, Education Trust, made $531,027 in 2018. Many of you know that Acting-US Secretary of Education Ian Rosenblum previously worked for EDuTrusrt but did you know that in 2018 he cleared a salary of $216,788?
• Elisa Villanueva Beard, Teach For America, in 2017 drew an annual salary of $493,836
• Daniel Weisberg, TNTP, in 2018 received $348,779 in compensation.
• David Mansouri, SCORE CEO, and Sharon Roberts, Chief Impact Officer, pulled in $313,295 and 272,808 respectively.
• Brent Easly, TNCAN, the year before he went to work for Governor Lee cleared roughly $170K.
• Candace McQueen, NIET, didn’t take over as Executive Director until last year but in 2018 her predecessor drew a salary of $402K
• Emily Freitag, Instruction Partners, in 2018 cleared $225K, willing to bet it’s a lot higher these days.

The tragic part of all of this is that the very students that are being used as payroll generators are CONTINUE READING: IGNORANCE OR INTENTION – Dad Gone Wild

Maurice Cunningham: The Rise of an Astroturf Rightwing “Parents” Group | Diane Ravitch's blog

Maurice Cunningham: The Rise of an Astroturf Rightwing “Parents” Group | Diane Ravitch's blog

Maurice Cunningham: The Rise of an Astroturf Rightwing “Parents” Group

Maurice Cunningham is professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts. He specializes in unmasking Dark Money groups.

He writes:

Radical Right Ramps Up War on School Boards, Superintendents, Principals, and Teachers

A new professedly “grassroots” group called Parents Defending Education has joined the right wing assault on public education. It combines white supremacy with a vicious plan to launch personal attacks on elected officials, administrators, and teachers. Just another day in corporate education reform.  

This group says it is fighting to restore “healthy, non-political education for our kids.” What they mean is anything that critically examines America’s racial history or present. 1619 is out, Trump’s 1776 project to promote “patriotic education” is in. Ibram X. Kendi and anti-racism? Definitely out. Wally and the Beav, in. 

Parents Defending Education is a campaign to direct and manage attacks on educators who candidly CONTINUE READING: Maurice Cunningham: The Rise of an Astroturf Rightwing “Parents” Group | Diane Ravitch's blog

CURMUDGUCATION: Parents Defending Education: Astroturf Goes Hard Right

CURMUDGUCATION: Parents Defending Education: Astroturf Goes Hard Right

Parents Defending Education: Astroturf Goes Hard Right

Parents Defending Education has just popped onto the education policy landscape, and they have staked out their spot in the new battle to inculcate children with the Proper American Values.

They would like to sell themselves as a grassroots organization; there is no particular reason to believe that's true, and I'm going to refer you to this post from the indispensable Mercedes Schneider to see exactly how this group is the product of professional astro-turfers. So take a moment and go read her post before you finish this one. Go ahead--I'll wait.

So Dr. Schneider has laid out who these people are. I want to follow that up with a look at what they're up to. 

The PDE website (which, oddly enough, doesn't include the "parent" part in the URL) prominently lists as a motto "Empower. Expose. Engage." And this explanation:

Parents Defending Education is a national grassroots organization working to reclaim our schools from activists promoting harmful agendas. Through network and coalition building, investigative CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Parents Defending Education: Astroturf Goes Hard Right

Parents Defending Education: Prefab “Grassroots” | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Parents Defending Education: Prefab “Grassroots” | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Parents Defending Education: Prefab “Grassroots”

On March 30, 2021, a new ed-reform kid on the top-down block, Parents Defending Education, introduced itself to the public on Twitter as follows:

“Launch today.” That sounds very new– and very odd because this org purports to do the nonsensical– “build a grassroots army of parents.”

Grassroots is not “built” from the top down. But a new ed-reform org surely could exploit the term “grassroots” by having members in different locales so that it might engage in litigation in the name of a local, “grassroots” interest.

That is just what this come-lately ed-reform group appears to have done.

Eight days prior to announcing its “launch” on Twitter– on March 22, 2021– Parents Defending Education had already stepped into a New York education lawsuit about high school integration, positioning itself as eligible to “intervene as a defendant”— and making it sound as though the org– here identified as a nonprofit– is an established grassroots org– and therefore having a right to CONTINUE READING: Parents Defending Education: Prefab “Grassroots” | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Huge cash influx pouring into Kansas City school board races | The Kansas City Star

Huge cash influx pouring into Kansas City school board races | The Kansas City Star

‘Never seen this kind of money’: Big spending raises concern in KC school board races

A newly formed nonprofit has already pumped 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 $65,298 on political consultants, mailed advertisements, radio spots and newspaper ads, according to a report 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.

The group isn’t saying where the money originated — leading to questions about Blaque KC’s motives. Some believe its ultimate goal is to disrupt the district’s center of power and usher in even more charter schools in Kansas City.

Blaque KC is backing Tanesha Ford, who is vying for the at-large seat of incumbent board chair Pattie Mansur, as well as Kandace Buckner, who is running against Bruce Beatty for an open seat representing Sub-district 5.

Blaque KC was formed last year by Cokethea Hill, who has worked for years in the nonprofit and educational space. She said the group’s aim is simple: to improve the academic performance of Black public school students who have long lagged behind their white peers. CONTINUE READING: Huge cash influx pouring into Kansas City school board races | The Kansas City Star

Maurice Cunningham: How Did Ordinary Moms in Rhode Island Get the Money to Pay for a Poll? Hint: Dark Money | Diane Ravitch's blog

Maurice Cunningham: How Did Ordinary Moms in Rhode Island Get the Money to Pay for a Poll? Hint: Dark Money | Diane Ravitch's blog

Maurice Cunningham: How Did Ordinary Moms in Rhode Island Get the Money to Pay for a Poll? Hint: Dark Money

Maurice Cunningham is a professor political science at the University of Massachusetts who has developed a unique talent for exposing the workings of Dark Money in education. The usual source of Dark Money is the multi-billionaire Walton Family, but they are not alone. In this post, he reviews the remarkable story told by the media in Rhode Island. A group of ordinary moms got together to demand charter schools. They set up a website and commissioned a poll done by President Biden’s pollster. Where did the money come from? The media forgot to ask that question. The media’s lack of curiosity about the funding behind this group of moms is curious.

On February 25, five “frustrated mothers” organized to raise money for their passion: charter schools.

What we see here is quite common, a front purporting to be parents but actually funded and acting for wealthy CONTINUE READING: Maurice Cunningham: How Did Ordinary Moms in Rhode Island Get the Money to Pay for a Poll? Hint: Dark Money | Diane Ravitch's blog

Maurice Cunningham: The Marketing of the “National Parents Union” | Diane Ravitch's blog

Maurice Cunningham: The Marketing of the “National Parents Union” | Diane Ravitch's blog

Maurice Cunningham: The Marketing of the “National Parents Union” 

Maurice Cunningham watches the flow of “Dark Money” into the privatization of public funding for schools. A professor of political science, he has recently followed the money trail of the “National Parents Union,” which he points out is neither “national,” nor “parents,” nor a “union.”

NPU markets itself as if it were a “grassroots” group, but it is funded by the Walton Family Foundation and Charles Koch and enjoys the high-priced assistance of Mercury Communications LLP to get its anti-public school, anti-union message into the national media. Mercury currently represents Teach for America and at one time represented Eva Moskowitz (who fired them).

With this expensive marketing, NPU presents itself as an authentic voice of parents.

Cunningham writes:

Here’s an example of the coverage from the New York Times: “National Parents Union, a collection of 200 advocacy organizations across 50 states representing parents from communities of color.” But there is no CONTINUE READING: Maurice Cunningham: The Marketing of the “National Parents Union” | Diane Ravitch's blog

John White and Co: What Are They Up to Now? | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

John White and Co: What Are They Up to Now? | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

John White and Co: What Are They Up to Now?

John White’s time as Louisiana state superintendent officially ended on March 12, 2020, after eight years of his wreaking opaque, ed-reform havoc on Louisiana public education.

Two years prior to his exit, in June 2018, White co-founded an education nonprofit, Propel America. However, according to the April 30, 2019, Advocate, he never mentioned to the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) that he co-founded a nonprofit– even as his nonprofit was piloting its career path product in Louisiana.

Propel America has the following mission statement:

Propel brings together high schools, community colleges, and employers in a unified system of skill-building, job placement, and ongoing planning for young adults. The model includes a “core course” in or directly after high school, in which students determine their job pathway and begin to prepare for it. Propel then covers the cost of job training, pays a modest stipend, provides mentorship and support, and guarantees a job interview for any “Propel fellow” who successfully completes their training. This process empowers recent high school graduates with the skills, credentials, experiences, and social networks to attain a well-paying job within one year, with opportunities for advancement and higher education. 

That’s a lot of effort to drop the ball with a promise of only a single job interview, but it sure reads impressive if one glosses over this critical, weak link. But back to White and some other “fellows,” if you will. 

On December 17, 2019, Lousiana Department of Education (LDOE) assistant superintendent of policy and governmental affairs, Erin Bendily, left LDOE to go work for White’s nonprofit. The LDOE press release downplayed White’s role (“a CONTINUE READING: John White and Co: What Are They Up to Now? | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Rhode Island: Dark Money Backs “Parent Group” for More Charter Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

Rhode Island: Dark Money Backs “Parent Group” for More Charter Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

Rhode Island: Dark Money Backs “Parent Group” for More Charter Schools

Maurice Cunningham specializes in digging up the facts about Dark Money (political contributions where the donors’ names are hidden). His expose of Dark Money from the Waltons and other billionaires turned the public against a 2016 state referendum in Massachusetts to expand the number of charter schools, and it was defeated. I wrote about this campaign in Slaying Goliath.

In this post, published here for the first time, he exposes a “parent group” demanding more charter schools in Rhode Island.

Cunningham writes:

Parents who care about public education need to be wary of dark money fronts masquerading as concerned reformers. These are lavishly funded efforts with the goal of privatizing public schools. Rhode Islanders should take a long hard look at Stop the Wait RI.

This operation registered with the Rhode Island Secretary of State as a social welfare organization organized under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue on February 25, 2021. That status allows Stop the Wait to engage in a wide range of political activities including spending on political campaigns. The big advantage for a 501(c)(4) is CONTINUE READING: Rhode Island: Dark Money Backs “Parent Group” for More Charter Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog

Told Ya This Would Happen – Tennessee Education Report

Told Ya This Would Happen – Tennessee Education Report

TOLD YA THIS WOULD HAPPEN

Back in July, I wrote a post about a newly-created political action committee (PAC) that seemed to be formed by Tennesseans for Student Success. You may recall that Tennesseans for Student Success is the dark money group behind a serious of insidious attacks on any legislator who opposes school privatization.

So, anyway, now they have a cheerily named PAC. Team Kid PAC, they’re calling it. Here’s more from the email they sent announcing this new venture:

Our state has made historic gains in education – twice being named the fastest improving in the nation – but you and our network of parents, teachers, community leaders, and volunteers know we can do better. If we want a better future for our children, we have to elect better leaders. That’s why we formed Team Kid PAC. 

The political action committee of Tennesseans for Student Success, we will serve as the ONLY organization that can and will effectively challenge any elected official or candidate who fails to put Tennessee’s students first –regardless of their political party.

Sounds pretty great, right? I mean, they start out the email with a pretty awesome question:

Do you want to secure effective education for all Tennessee students?

I mean, who is saying no to that? Even Gov. Bill Lee claims to want to secure an CONTINUE READING: Told Ya This Would Happen – Tennessee Education Report

Los Angeles: Billionaire-funded Group Complains about Remote Learning Pact | Diane Ravitch's blog

Los Angeles: Billionaire-funded Group Complains about Remote Learning Pact | Diane Ravitch's blog

Los Angeles: Billionaire-funded Group Complains about Remote Learning Pact

In Los Angeles, the UTLA reached an agreement with the LAUSD and superintendent to extend remote learning as COVID surges and every ICU bed is filled in the city. The billionaire-funded “Parent Revolution” complained (billionaires are parents although they have no children in LA public schools).

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-18/la-teachers-increase-live-online-classes-students

With children mired in distance learning and many struggling academically, Los Angeles teachers will take on more live online interaction with students next semester, under an agreement announced Friday. Also under the deal, school nurses will conduct campus-based coronavirus tests.

The pact between the teachers union and the Los Angeles Unified School District was essential for the nation’s second-largest school system; the agreement’s predecessor would have expired Dec. 31. And, based on current infection rates, a return to campus in January is almost impossible under state health guidelines. 

“This progress in online instruction reflects the shared learning of all who work in schools about the need to maximize the interaction between teachers and students and their families,” Los Angeles schools Supt. Austin CONTINUE READING: Los Angeles: Billionaire-funded Group Complains about Remote Learning Pact | Diane Ravitch's blog