Hedge Fund-Funded Charter School Lobby Buys Elections, Destroys Education
When hedge funds invade the public schools arena, we are no longer talking about education, but of markets.by Margaret Kimberley
Rich people have always had the ability to bend electoral politics to their collective will. They determine who has the opportunity to run for office and sadly, more often than not, they determine who will win. This subversion of democracy is now on full display in races across the country in which politicians who have rightly questioned the mania for charter schools have been targeted for defeat by the charter school industry and its lobby.
New York state is one of the recipients of Race to the Top funds. It has been awarded $700 million from the federal government in exchange for a promise to undermine public education. In New York and other states long term incumbent state legislators are now facing unknown but suddenly well funded newcomers whose campaigns have been bankrolled entirely by hedge fund investors who are making a fast buck from the charter school industry.
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As one challenger of a New York City state senator put it, “The checks started rolling in“ after wealthy charter school backers began supporting his and other’s campaigns for office. This sudden largesse and alleged concern for public education proves beyond any doubt that the charter school movement is a gigantic fraud, a mirage created for the sole purpose of enriching one class of people at the expense of millions of children whose right to an education will be jeopardized.
These challengers are not hard to find.
http://www.dfer.org/">Democrats for Education Reform is an organization which makes its agenda crystal clear. Its goal is to further the interests of the privatizers and it is clear in its support of fund raising efforts for candidates who support its educational policies.
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http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/09/16-2
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