We have brought you the story before that the current round of “education reform” is a myth, that its just a ruse to try and privatize education so certain people can get their hands on our education money!
We all know that Scott Walker in his latest budget wants to vastly increase taxpayer money going to private voucher schools.
We also know that the face of voucher schools, and main lobbyist, is former Assembly speaker and convicted felon Scott Jensen, who makes over $400,000/ yr lobbying for the incredibly misnamed American Federation for Children.
Now, thanks to our friends at One Wisconsin Now and the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, the picture gets even clearer still.
First from Wisconsin Democracy Campaign($10 Million Dollars):
Madison – Wealthy campaign contributors and shadowy electioneering groups that back school voucher programs have spent nearly $10 million in 10 years in Wisconsin – much of it to help twice elect a governor who is trying to sharply expand the program, a Wisconsin Democracy Campaign review found.
Spending by school choice backers included $2.8 million in individual campaign contributions to mostly Republican and conservative candidates for statewide office and the legislature from 2003 through mid-2012, and $7 million for outside electioneering activities, like negative mailings and broadcast ads, from 2003 through 2012.
Nothing like shadow money and negative campaigning to show everyone how much you care about the kids! But Wait! There is more. $10 million is petty change.
From One Wisconsin Now($31 Million):
Key findings include:
•
The Bradley Foundation, headed by Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign co-chair Michael Grebe has underwritten a massive pro-privatization propaganda
campaign.
•
Bradley has spent over $31 million since 2001 supporting organizations promoting education privatization, academics providing favorable pro-privatization pseudo science, media personalities promoting the privatization agenda and lobbying organizations advocating for privatization legislation.
•
The Bradley financed campaign has manufactured an education “crisis”, proposed a “solution”, attacked and undermined the ability of potential
opponents to block their agenda and funded aggressive pro-privatization media and lobbying efforts.
$31,000,000! Say WHAT? Why would groups spend a minimum(don’t forget this is just what these two groups were able to uncover and account for), $41 million dollars to privatize our schools?
Hint: It is NOT because they care about improving the lives and education of the children on Allied drive! These people who spend hundreds of millions of dollars tying to make sue their taxes do not increase a measly 3%, are spending millions out of the kindness of their heart or hoping to make education great for all.
Ulterior motives is the phrase of the day!
The new rallying cry of the Pirates trying to raid our public education fund, is not “won’t someone think of the children”, it is officially
” Thar’s Gold in them thar classrooms!”.
Remember this when the debate starts going!
Vintage Simpson! And what about the teachers unions? How much are they spending? You don’t think THEY see $$$ in our schools?
The National Education Association spent $200 million and the American Federation of Teachers $300 million in the last 5 years on lobbying and campaign contributions. Here in Wisconsin, WEAC spent $2.5 million in each of the two years 2009-10. In addtion to campaign contributions, the teachers union PAC has spent more than $4.5 million since 2008 on independent expenditures to support Democrats and attack Republican candidates. That’s from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. The PAC also funnels money to Democratic ideological groups like the Greater Wisconsin Committee to spend on election activities. Your figures are for 12 years; my three sets are for 5 years, 2 years and 4 years.
And what, pray tell, are these mysterious “ulterior motives” you keep talking about? If kids do worse in choice schools the choice schools will dry up and blow away. Public schools, by contrast, use the police powers of the state to compel tax payments.
So…it is only ok for big labor to spend millions? Tell me, Jeff, why do you want thousands of students to remain in failing schools? Do you hate freedom of choice? Kids?
I dont want thousands fo kids to remain in “failing schools” which is why we keep bringing the truth to the people. I want the people to understand that you guys care about profits and power and not the kids. Which Mr. B is the ulterior Motives….PROFIT.
I have no problem discussing my posts with you, but you all should actually read it first!
PS: DO the teachers see $$$ in the schools? Hell no! I know what they make. What the teachers see is the devastating effects of the policies that you and the people you blindly support put into place. They see what you have done to our communities with your petty revenge on political opponents and your incredibly silly and misguided attempts at austerity!
The real money, as we all know, but you wont admit, is in privatizing education. Convicted felon and all around slime ball, Scott Jensen makes more than our whole administrative team combined. The difference of course is our admin team cares about the kids, is well qualified, intelligent and ethical.
You have once again made a totally unsupported accusation, spiced with the usual brand of name-calling. (Once again, Jeff, Scott Jensen’s felony conviction was vacated. But that hasn’t stopped your slander so far so I don’t expect it to in the future.) How does David Blaska “profit” from private schools? What “real money” is in “privatizing” education. And if private schools do show a profit, does that indicate that the families who willingly choose those schools are satisfied with the product they receive? How does David Blaska or anyone “profit” from poor schools that don’t educate? What “devastating effects” have I or, for that matter, Scott Walker, implemented? But people like Kaleem Caire do see the devastating effect of schools who are not serving their constituencies. Or do you blame the 50% graduation rate of black students in Madison schools on Scott Walker, who just completed his second year in office? Who has been running the failing schools in our country — in Detroit, in Milwaukee, and to some extent, in Madison. Not conservatives, Jeff. Even liberals like Davis Guggenheim, Joel Klein, Geoffrey Canada, Rahm Emmanuel, Howard Fuller, and the late Steve Jobs promote school choice. You, Mr. Simpson, are an unthinking demagogue.