Founder of Parents Transparency Project refuses to reveal funding sources. Not so transparent.

[madfloridian]

From David Sirota:

In Push Against Teachers Unions, Campbell Brown Refuses to Release Names Of Funders

The founder of a high-profile group seeking to weaken teacher tenure laws refuses to reveal who is funding her efforts, despite her organization's stated aim to "bring transparency" to education policymaking. Campbell Brown, a former CNN news anchor who founded the Parents Transparency Project and the Partnership for Educational Justice, rejected the request for details about her funders during her appearance on "The Colbert Report" Thursday night to discuss a new lawsuit.

The suit aims to get New York courts to mimic a recent court ruling in California, which weakens union-negotiated teacher tenure laws. Brown said her group is "helping and supporting" the lawsuit, which was filed this week. Asked who is funding her group, Brown told show-host Stephen Colbert: "I’m not going to reveal who the donors are." She defended her secrecy on the grounds that critics "are also going to go after people who are funding this."

Sirota points out that unions could not get away with such tactics. They must reveal sources of funding.

As Brown keeps the identity of her financial backers under wraps, her organization describes itself as a group "whose mission is to bring transparency" to education policymaking.

Politico has reported that under current law, Department of Labor rules require unions to "disclose more than many political groups about their internal operations," funding and expenditures. By contrast, many political groups seeking to limit teachers unions' workplace rights and replace traditional public schools with privately run, union-free charter schools have been able to keep the identity of their benefactors shrouded in secrecy, though periodic leaks have shed at least some light on the funders.

[madfloridian]

1. But it's okay.

They are only teachers, after all.