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Threat to Public Education Now Centers on Massachusetts THREAT TO PUBLIC EDUCATION NOW CENTERS ON MASSACHUSETTS May 2016 Preface This document updates and expands on Threat from the Right, an MTA task force report issued in May 2013. During the intervening years, the threat to public education, organized labor and social justice has grown substantially. Massachusetts is now in the crosshairs, with the forces behind charter schools, privatization and other attacks on the public good coalescing on Beacon Hill and throughout the state. That is reflected in the title of the 2016 edition, Threat to Public Education Now Centers on Massachusetts. No one should doubt the danger of the challenges outlined in these pages or the intensity of the forces behind them, which are national in scope. Nevertheless, winning the many fights we face is well within the power of the MTA and our allies — parents, students and other members of communities across Massachusetts and the nation. Understanding our opponents is an important step, and this report is intended to help us move toward meaningful victories as we continue to organize, mobilize and build the power we need to realize the goals of our Strategic Action Plan. Contents Introduction Elements of the Charter Campaign The Massachusetts Alignment ......................................................................................................7 Great Schools Massachusetts.......................................................................................................9 Families for Excellent Schools ....................................................................................................11 The Pioneer Institute ....................................................................................................................16 The Investors: Massachusetts Campaign Money ......................................................................19 The Boston Foundation ...............................................................................................................23 Other State Political Players The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance .............................................................................................29 The Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University ...........................................................................31 The Massachusetts Anti-Tax Movement .....................................................................................34 Key National Donors, Funds and Organizations Charles and David Koch ..............................................................................................................39 The Walton Family Foundation ....................................................................................................41 The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation ..........................................................................................43 Charter funds: NewSchools Venture Fund and New Profit ........................................................47 NewSchools Venture Fund .......................................................................................................47 New Profit, Inc. .........................................................................................................................50 Strategic Grant Partners ..............................................................................................................53 The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation ........................................................................................54 The Laura and John Arnold Foundation .....................................................................................55 DonorsTrust and Donors Capital Fund .......................................................................................56 The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation ..................................................................................57 The Jaquelin Hume Foundation ..................................................................................................58 Americans for Prosperity .............................................................................................................59 FreedomWorks .............................................................................................................................62 The Heritage Foundation .............................................................................................................65 The State Policy Network ............................................................................................................68 The American Legislative Exchange Council..............................................................................71 StudentsFirst ................................................................................................................................74 The Foundation for Excellence in Education ..............................................................................76 The Association of American Educators .....................................................................................80 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 85 Source Notes .......................................................................................................................... 89 Threat to Public Education Now Centers on Massachusetts | Introduction Introduction The threats aligned against public education and unions today are broad, deep and substantial. More and more, they are focused on Massachusetts, where proponents of charter school expansion are preparing to spend millions of dollars as they test just how far they can go in privatizing public education and profiting off the public good. The outcome of this assault is vital to the future of our Commonwealth — and to the future of public schools, colleges and universities across the nation. For MTA members and students, this is nothing short of an existential struggle. Key battlegrounds include the Legislature, the courts, Congress and the governing bodies of every city and town in Massachusetts, along with all types of media. Elements crucial to success or failure include elections for political office at all levels, ballot initiatives, and debates in every policy arena. With the stakes so high, it is no wonder that the forces arrayed against unions and allied social justice organizations are strong, influential and expansive. These forces are The forces that have active in Massachusetts and nationally — and, as this report will demonstrate, there long sought to privatize is often little or no space between funders, foundations, policymakers, operators of education to reduce charter schools, proponents of education “reform” and advocates for small government government are now and privatization. Much of their spending is opaque, and many donors to right-wing picking up steam from advocacy organizations and other funders do not disclose their contributions. those who see schools and Old-line benefactors — including the Koch brothers, the Walton family and the Eli and colleges as just another Edythe Broad Foundation — continue to contribute massive amounts of money to the business challenge open fights they take on. But now they are joined by a new breed of “venture philanthropists” to disruption. eager to use their vast fortunes to shape policy changes. As always, undermining unions is an important part of the agenda. One key difference in recent years, however, lies in a blurring of ideologies that seeks to merge nonprofit and for-profit interests. The forces that have long sought to privatize education to reduce government are now picking up steam from those who see schools and colleges as just another business challenge open to disruption. Some wealthy individuals have signed the “Giving Pledge,” promising to devote much of their accumulated money to causes they support during their lifetimes. Former Enron executive-turned- hedge-fund-manager John Arnold and his wife, Laura, are among them. The Arnolds, who are backers of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, have provided at least $25 million to boost charters in Louisiana, $22 million to Teach for America, $7.5 million to StudentsFirst, $5 million to Stand for Children and a minimum of $1 million to Families for Excellent Schools. They say they will work full time at the Laura and John Arnold Foundation for many years to come and intend to “exhaust most or all” of their estimated $3.5 billion in accumulated wealth on issue advocacy that has included challenging the structure of public pensions. The Chronicle of Philanthropy notes that the Arnolds are “the youngest among the top givers — by more than two decades in most cases.” John Arnold says: “We have the benefit of being young, so we can look at very complicated problems. … We have years to see these through.” 1 Threat to Public Education Now Centers on Massachusetts | Introduction In Massachusetts, charter schools, which are draining more than $400 million a year from local districts, are at the center of the storm. As the Legislature considers lifting the cap on the number of Commonwealth charters and allowing an even greater diversion of public funds to private interests, proponents are mounting legal action and threatening to spend untold sums on a ballot initiative this November. Governor Charlie Baker has made charter expansion a top priority, mirroring his privatization efforts involving transportation and other public services. Baker vows to hold the line
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