Beware phony "parent" astroturf groups

[mainer]

They're funded by billionaires, they don't even come from the school district, and they are there to destroy public schools and help funnel money into private charter schools.

Jeanne Melvin of Ohio’s Parent Education Partners has provided a useful guide to help readers discern the differences between actual parent groups and billionaire-funded astroturf parent groups.

Actual grassroots parent groups rely mostly on volunteers. They want to strengthen, preserve, and protect their public schools. They lobby the state legislature for more funding for public schools.

Astroturf parent groups are supported by billionaires, and they usually have a sizable staff of well-paid people. They exist to carry out the goals of their funders. They complain about how terrible the public schools are, and they advocate for charter schools and choice.

Melvin names names. She calls out “Parents Defending Education,” “Freedom Works,” “Parents Rights in Education,” and “Moms for Liberty,” among others. Some of they may be at work in your state, representing themselves as ordinary parents who want “change.” The change they want is privatization, not better public schools. Before you get involved in any parent group, find out what their budget is and who pays the salaries and how many leaders have salaries.

https://dianeravitch.net/2021/06/14/beware-the-phony-parent-astroturf-groups-in-your-state/

[mopinko]

1. i said this about a week ago.

after that one in tenn, where none of the loudmouths had an accent.
glad to see someone w. bigger soapbox saying that.

teaparty 2.0

[Wounded Bear]

2. K & R...for visibility...

The fight for public education is on-going, and it was strengthened by having a supporter (Betsy DeVos) running the Department of Education under trump.

[erronis]

25. DeVos not a "supporter" of public education, but someone financially vested in destroying it.

But I totally understood your wording.

Two examples among many of scum: DeVos and Erik Prince (her brother). And of course anyone around trump.

[Wounded Bear]

28. Yes, I meant a "supporter" of the attacks on public education...

she was a privatizer, to be sure.

[PatSeg]

3. K&R

[malaise]

4. Very Important

Get thee to the greatest page

[WhiteTara]

5. here's where many are coming from

There's a talent agency just for that. You'll see some famous? actors being offered by this agency.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1422449854224031745.html

[jmbar2]

15. This needs to be its own post!

This woman is exposing a whole network of familiar agent provocateurs and their recent "projects", such as antivax protests at a cancer treatment center.

Should be on everyone's radar.

Thanks for posting. Going on my regular watchlist.

[Nittersing]

6. Can school boards require that commenters must be from their district? nt

[kimbutgar]

9. Or that parents must have children enrolled in that school district.

[Nittersing]

13. Tough sell to exclude tax payers in the district

I'm 67, no kids. Homeowner for 36 years. I've supported every school bond, voted in every election. I certainly deserve a place at the table. (Not that I have any desire to place myself at any of these shit shows.)

[Jon King]

16. Tax payers support the benefit to society, have no reason to be involved though.

Two different things. People who pay school taxes with no kids at the school are supporting a more educated society. Or at least that is what the rationale is. A more educated society leads to better citizens and workers, it benefits everyone. Again, that is the theory.

If someone does not have kids active in a school, even a tax payer in the district has no right to comment on mask mandates, which extracurricular activities are offered, the curriculum, etc. Those things only effect the quality of experience for the current students, not the greater societal good.

By making the school board meeting comments regarding asks and curriculum only for parents showing they have an active student, it would solve these issues.

[Nittersing]

21. If my school district was going full bore anti-CRT (it isn't thank gawd)

You're damn straight I want a voice at the table. My tax dollars need to be supporting science (Among other things) whether I have kids in the district or not.

[MarcA]

24. Strongly disagree. This helps destroy public schools. n/t

[3catwoman3]

7. Any group with "Freedom" or...

..."Liberty" in their name is immediately suspect in my book.

Also "Family" or "Values."

[Traildogbob]

8. I am with you

Last edited Mon Aug 30, 2021, 12:07 PM - Edit history (1)

100 percent. I am getting to the point where I see American flags from trucks and on homes as part of the trump treason army. As a veteran, I can not salute that flag in its current condition. All those terms you mention, immediately turn me away. Just as out loud Christians. Think it is Mathew 6:5-6 that speaker of praying alone, not in public hypocritical display.

[erronis]

26. I guess it's working. Make some of the US start to dislike the US flag or certain terms

such as liberty, freedom.

And others to hate terms such as democratic, educated, liberal, intellectual.

[NJCher]

12. or even "America"

or "American."

Seriously.

[Moostache]

17. So I'm hearing that you're leaning "no" on donating to:

The American Freedom Values and Family Liberty Foundation?

The AFVFLF is sure to be upset about it...once more screaming cancel culture warriors have CRT'd them...

[NJCher]

20. not all...but I will tell you this

Two decades ago I started a nonprofit legal foundation. I started it with a number of other individuals and when we set it up, they wanted to call it a name with "America" in it.

I did some research and found a ton of r-w organizations that had "America" in the name.

There also used to be a list of r-w think tanks on the net and the names on quite a few of them had "America" in it, too. I used to use that list to tell students that they had to be wary of their sources if they chose from any on that list.

[IronLionZion]

10. Several have been exposed on twitter as paid actors

who don't even have students enrolled in the school. That's why the stuff they say is completely bonkers and sometimes you see familiar faces in different districts.

[lagomorph777]

11. School board meetings have to check ID at the door.

Maskhole infestations have been occurring with scary frequency.

In my very wealthy, very blue DC suburb county, these astroturds showed up and disrupted a school board meeting, screaming about "Critical Race Theory." Apparently it made the national news.

[KS Toronado]

14. All of these "parent astroturf" groups

Have similar sounding names to all the Koch brothers started groups.

[NewJeffCT]

18. I'm in the blue state of Connecticut

and I see yards sprinkled with signs saying "UNMASK OUR KIDS" with "Call your local Board of Ed" underneath and a blank for the phone number, meaning they're mass printed somewhere & shipped out to anti-vaxxers.

[modrepub]

19. Media Is Slow To React

Have seen this happen too many times. Phony outrage posing as a public demonstration; remember the Gore vote protesters?

You can't restrict who shows up to public meetings. It's up to the press and the rest of us to ferret these people out, identify their funding and anterior motives as quickly as possible. Hopefully shame and "sunlight" chases these folks back to the dark places they crawled out of.

[NJCher]

22. it's been years, so take this with a grain of salt, but

about four years ago I read where the cost per student in my local public school district was something like $13,000 per semester.

Keep in mind NJ teachers are among the highest paid in the nation. In many schools we have long-timers pulling down $120-130,000 a year. As a teacher, of course, I do not object to this, although I know that many might.

But my point is this: the public schools are a big nut to crack for these private industries and as you know, that is what DeJoy's mission is for the post office. And he is doing it.

Public school education is a huge, huge pot of money and they want to start scamming their way through it, just like what they pulled off in Afghanistan and what they are doing/or intended to do with the post office.

Union talk: in K-12 they (private industry) are forming alternatives to public schools and may be siphoning off a good sized group of students. They are using Covid as the wedge. This is not just BS talk. It comes straight from the president of my state union.

[aggiesal]

23. Privatization of public schools, I call it ...

PROFITIZATION of public schools.

Everytime I see Privatization, I substitute it with PROFITIZATION.
When I see Regulations, I substitute it with PROTECTIONS.

Both make more sense with the substituted words.
That's how we need to frame this.

[erronis]

27. Good switch. Privatization Profitization. Or Profiteering.

[Wounded Bear]

29. Indeed, the terms are pretty much interchangeable...nt

[Blue Owl]

30. K&R