How to Buy a School District
The Lyons Elementary School District 103 was recently purchased for $11,512. The district, serving 2,600 students in west Cook County, has an annual budget over $30 million. What a great deal!
How the school district was bought:
The mayor of one of the five communities the district serves, Chris Getty, decided he should be running the district.
Mayor Getty got five of his henchmen to run for the school board.
Mayor Getty helped the henchmen form the Political Action Committee (PAC)Parents for Student Excellence on 2/24/15. It’s unusual to form a PAC for school board candidates – even in the Chicago area!
Three days later Getty’s own two PACs United Citizens Party and Citizens for Getty each gave Parents for Student Excellence $975 as seed money. Why such an odd number? Because the Illinois Board of Elections must be notified within two days of any donations over $1,000. $975 keeps it under the radar.
Citizens for Getty hid more expenditures as “in-kind contributions” until after the election. A few days before the election they spent $10,341.95 on “in-kind” printing and mailings on behalf of Parents for Student Excellence.
Not one of the five board candidates gave a penny to Parents for Student Excellence. Nor did they bother to show up for the League of Women Voters’ candidate forum.
In addition to the $10,341.95 of “in-kind” contributions Parents for Student Excellence spent $1,169.82 on pictures of themselves (for a flyer) and a mailing service. The PAC spent at total of $11,512.
So what did they spend it on? They sent out flyers and emails telling the residents that the district was “in disarray,” students got “bad test scores” and that the current board engaged in “wasteful spending.” (Riverside-Brookfield Landmark)
The PR blitz worked – four of the five henchmen were elected to the board of education. And Mayor Getty has given them their first marching orders: fire the interim superintendents and hire his political-buddy as superintendent, fire the Education Under Attack | Attacks on public education system hurt America:
Beware of AstroTurf Ed Reformers
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
