blk alliance for ed options

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</font><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" /><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Home » The Teat » The Teat: @ntlBAEO, Choice, $, and Strings Attached?</font></font></font></font></div><div>The Teat: @ntlBAEO, Choice, $, and Strings Attached?</div><div>Posted on July 28, 2013 by Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig in The Teat // 17 Comments</div><div>
</div><div>Today The Teat returns to discuss <b>The Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO).</b></div><div>
</div><div>A few days ago I was giving an interview to an LA Times reporter for an upcoming piece they are going to publish on Teach For America. About midway through the discussion the reporter asked, “Who funds your research?” I replied, I am a scholar, this is what I do for a living, as a tenured faculty member, my time-honored role is to create knowledge for society. I am not saying I have not been hired in the past to consult on various research projects or serve(d) on various advisory boards. However, my peer-reviewed research has not been bought. More on this later…</div><div>
</div><div>I have also noticed over the past several years when submitting to peer-reviewed journals, they are now asking who funded the research. Why might this now be necessary? It is also now typical that at the end of an article peer-reviewed journals will now state openly who paid for research…</div><div>
</div><div>This brings me to a Tweet i recently received</div><div>
</div><div>Screen Shot 2013-07-25 at 1.37.30 PM</div><div>
</div><div>The tweeter was referring to a new<b> “survey” </b>conducted by The Black Alliance for Educational Options.  Edweek reported:</div><div>
</div><div>The vast majority of African-American voters in four Southern states believe the government should provide as many educational choices as possible to ensure their children receive a good education, says a new report released by the Black Alliance for Educational Options, a school choice advocacy group.</div><div>
</div><div>[BAEO] acknowledged that it is not impartial on the issue of school choice. The Black Alliance for Educational Options states in the beginning of the report that it is an advocacy organization that aims to increase the amount of educational options available for black children.</div><div>
</div><div>And within the survey itself, the report says that after asking initial questions about charters to gauge the survey participants’ knowledge of charter schools, participants were then given “informed ballot questions prefaced with facts about charters.”</div><div>
</div><div>Those facts included nuggets like “charter schools in some communities have led to significant gains in academic performance, graduation rates, and college readiness for lower-income black students” and “charter public schools serving Black students were over three times as likely to close the achievement gap.”</div><div>Clearly BAEO used classic tactics to insert bias into research via recency effects. Who is BAEO? Why might BAEO have been motivated to blatantly introduce bias to the survey respondents? From whose Teat do they partake? In a piece published <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">more than a decade ago Susan Ohanian </span>wrote:</div><div>
</div><div><b>With the voucher legislation and ballot initiatives of the 1980s failing, voucher proponents embraced a new strategy adopting the language of the civil rights movement and targeting the African American community. This political strategy is designed to boost support for vouchers, not only among African Americans, but also among progressive and moderate suburban whites, many of whom support strong public schools.</b> The current public relations and legislative focus on poor children does not alter right-wing voucher proponents’ long-term goal of broader-based voucher systems and privatization that would irreparably harm public education.</div><div>
</div><div>BAEO announced its formation on August 24, 2000 at a national press conference in Washington, D.C. Former Milwaukee Schools Superintendent Dr. Howard Fuller, the group’s president and founder, said it would support tax-funded voucher programs, private scholarships, tuition tax credits, charter schools and public/private partnerships.</div><div>
</div><div>In March 2001, BAEO began its organizing efforts with its first annual meeting in Milwaukee  bringing over 600 African-American voucher backers from 35 states together for the express purpose of starting local chapters. By May, chapters were operating in Milwaukee, New York, Denver, Indianapolis and Philadelphia and the group claimed to be organizing chapters in nine other cities. Two months later, BAEO announced the formation of a new chapter in St. Louis, which immediately announced plans to start running ads.11 One of the Indianapolis chapter’s first activities was to host a conference with the prominent African American voucher supporter Rev. Floyd Flake as the keynote speaker.12 By the summer of 2002, BAEO had tapped into the network of existing local African-American voucher supporters and formed 33 local chapters.13</div><div>
</div><div>BAEO quickly converted the new activists into spokespeople, amplifying its press coverage. BAEO spokespeople were quoted widely in national education stories such as the<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Supreme Court’s hearing of the Cleveland voucher case and on the debate over President Bush’s voucher proposals. BAEO joined the roster of pro-voucher press conferences and briefings, often teaming up with representatives from pro-voucher partisans like the Cato Institute and controversial researcher Paul Peterson.</span></div><div>
</div><div>BAEO bills itself as a coalition of up-and-coming leaders working within the African-American community. But a closer look shows that BAEO has been bankrolled by a small number of right-wing foundations better known for supporting education privatization and affirmative action rollbacks than empowerment of the African American community or low-income families.</div><div>
</div><div>Four groups that BAEO originally listed as benefactors back in 2001 are major players in the right-wing voucher movement. In fact, the <b>Walton Foundation and the Bradley Foundation have financed much of the movement. The Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation and the American Education Reform Council are pro-voucher advocacy groups that while also receiving significant funding from the Walton and Bradley Foundations</b> are lending their own significant support to BAEO, the relative newcomer.</div><div>
</div><div>Right-wing groups have also put a great deal of effort into cultivating African-American spokespeople, and working to counter the legacy of mistrust that communities of color have for a movement that has historically ranged from indifference to opposition toward racial justice efforts. Yet, at the same time, the right-wing political movement has continued to attack traditional civil rights leaders and initiatives.</div><div>
</div><div>BAEO is the latest step in the Right’s long effort to portray school vouchers as the new civil rights fight. The group does bring together many African-American voucher supporters and only a fraction of them are involved in right-wing politics in general. But BAEO takes its place among the other think tanks and local organizations that have been created with money from right-wing foundations as well as individuals and organizations hoping to profit from promoting increased privatization of public education.</div><div>There is much, much more on BAEO and from funding sources in the Ohanian article. (Also check out Cloaking Inequity’s other posts in The Teat series) A decade later they are up to the same false consciousness. What’s going on with BAEO lately? Well, $10 million more from the Walton and Gates Foundations.</div><div>
</div><div>So we know which side BAEO’s bread is buttered.</div><div>
</div><div>So looping back to my conversation with the LA Times reporter… Is it possible for academics supported by choice-biased foundations to publish research that show no effects of school choice? What if for example you were an endowed chair of school choice and funded heavily by the Walton foundation etc… Have you ever seen such a person, if in fact they might exist, publish work that shows no effect of choice even while the predominance of the peer-reviewed literature has opposite findings? Food for thought.</div><div>
</div><div>Clearly BAEO wants to play the race card/civil rights card. I agree that parents need choice, but I have proffered on CI here is REAL choice. The general public can see through BAEO’s ideology and biased/bought research methods. Furthermore, the predominance of independent empirical research does not support their exaggerated claims on choice (See my Senate testimony on charters). Also, click for all of Cloaking Inequity’s posts on vouchers and charters.</div><div>
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</font><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>ravitch tag</b></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" /><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Mercedes Schneider Debates Common Core with Two Advocates</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>By dianeravitch</div><div>September 1, 2014 //</div><div>12</div><div>Mercedes Schneider, high school teacher, debates Common Core with a state representative and a representative of the pro-voucher group Black Alliance for Educational Options. Mercedes explains who BAEO is, then engages in 6 minutes of debate in which the two men were pro-Common Core and Mercedes was critical. Does 2 vs. 1 sound unbalanced? At least there was some disagreement. A few days ago, there was a well-publicized forum on Common Core that included Merryl Tisch, chair of the Board of Regents; John King, state commissioner; Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers; Carmen Farina, Chancellor of the New York City public schools; and one or two others. Every member of the panel supported Common Core. Some debate.</div><div>
</div><div>Categories Black Alliance for Educational Options, Common Core, Louisiana</div><div>Privatizers Push Kentucky for Charter Law</div><div>By dianeravitch</div><div>August 15, 2013 //</div><div>16</div><div>Kentucky is one of only eight states that have not passed a charter law. That means that the state has been unwilling to turn public money over to private entrepreneurs, who will operate schools with little or no oversight.</div><div>
</div><div>The privatizers can’t tolerate the possibility any state refuses their wares or their opportunity to operate in the dark with public dollars.</div><div>
</div><div>So now the full-court press is on. The<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> National Alliance for Public (sic) Charter Schools</span> reports: “A bill was introduced and passed the state Senate last session, but it died in the House. Republican Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul will join the National Alliance, Democrats for Education Reform, and the Black Alliance for Educational Options, for the kick-off event, which will feature a roundtable discussion with education, business, and faith community leaders in Louisville. Kentucky is one of only eight remaining states without a charter school law and is our top priority state for 2014.”</div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>McConnell and Paul are singing the praises of charters. The far-right Black Alliance for Education Options–handsomely funded by the Walton Foundation–has descended on Kentucky to claim that public education must be demolished to “save” minority children.</b> The Wall Street hedge fund managers’ group Democrats for Education Reform is on the case, hoping to turn Kentucky away from public schools. And the National Alliance for Public (sic) Charter Schools is leading the charge against community-based public schools.</div><div>
</div><div>Before Kentucky buys the snake oil, its policymakers should review the state’s NAEP performance and compare it to its neighbor, charter-happy Tennessee. Kentucky educators could give lessons to Tennessee about the importance of strong community schools.</div><div>
</div><div>On the NAEP, Kentucky consistently outperforms Tennessee.</div><div>
</div><div>Stay strong, Kentucky. Snake oil cures nothing. You don’t need a dual school system of publicly-funded schools. The one you have is good and getting better.</div><div>
</div><div>Categories Black Alliance for Educational Options, Charter Schools, Support for public schools</div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>Heilig on Black Alliance for Educational Options: Follow the Money</b></div><div>By dianeravitch</div><div>August 8, 2013 //</div><div>6</div><div>Julian Vasquez Heilig has been posting an illuminating series of posts that he calls “The Teat.”</div><div>
</div><div>Each of his posts follows the connection between advocacy groups and their funders. Some of these advocacy groups appear to do research, studies, and surveys, but they invariably reflect the priorities of those who supply the money.</div><div>
</div><div>In this post, Heilig inquires into the activities of the<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Black Alliance for Educational Options. This is an organization that advocates for school choice, whether charters or vouchers. The group is politically important because it provides cover for the conservative white men (and they are mostly men) who are pushing privatization.</span></div><div>
</div><div>Historically, disadvantaged minorities have benefited by the protection of the federal government and the courts. Privatization has not been good for those who are poor. Minorities understood that privatization was not their friend. The role of the BAEO is to demonstrate to conservative white politicians and a gullible liberal media that blacks are clamoring for charters and vouchers. With charters and vouchers, that troublesome issue of desegregation may be forgotten, no longer relevant to our day.</div><div>
</div><div>Who is funding BAEO? You will not be surprised to learn it is Walton and Gates.</div><div>
</div><div>Categories Black Alliance for Educational Options, Charter Schools, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Vouchers, Walton Foundation</div><div><b>Indianapolis: Farewell to Public Education</b></div><div>
</div><div>By dianeravitch</div><div>February 18, 2013 //</div><div>33</div><div>I received a desperate message on Facebook from Tarrey Banks, the founder of The Project School in Indianapolis. TPS is a charter school started with a grant from the Walton Foundation. Greg Ballard, the mayor of Indianapolis, is the authorizer. TPS has low test scores, after four years, and the mayor has decided to close it. Banks and TPS parents are outraged. They went to court, blocked the mayor in a lower court, but then lost when a federal judge upheld the closure. TPS is losing the battle.</div><div>
</div><div>To get the big picture of what is happening in Indianapolis, read here. You will encounter a familiar cast of characters, including, of course, Bill Gates and Stand for Children.</div><div>
</div><div>What is happening in Indianapolis is terrifying if you believe that public education belongs to the public, not to private corporations. .</div><div>
</div><div>Here comes a scary future. First, the “blueprint” for Indianapolis, confidently predicting a future of perfection and excellence, but without any meaningful road map. Just promises. And here come the charters, opening with high hopes and closing when judged by scores.</div><div>
</div><div>Open, close. Open, close. Open, close.</div><div>
</div><div>Below is Banks’ letter. Read it. Read Mayor Ballard’s Blueprint for Utopia. But if you read nothing else today, read this article about the grand plan to privatize the schools of Indianapolis.</div><div>
</div><div>https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5_NQFzJRhSGZ2ZEaWZFYmhwNU0/edit?usp=sharing</div><div>
</div><div><b>This is the Mind Trust </b>/ Mayor Ballard (TFA Deputy Mayor Jason Kloth) take-over blueprint. This will literally be the end of public education in the urban core of Indianapolis.</div><div>
</div><div>We need help. It’s all but over. The 10th most populated city in the country is about to be one of the biggest systems of educational apartheid in the nation.</div><div>
</div><div>My name is Tarrey Banks and I’m the founding school leader of the Indianapolis Project School. I am a lifelong public school educator who made the decision to start a charter school with a group of passionate educators. We are the only truly progressive public school in our city. We take and teach all kids…we don’t push out, kick out, expel, etc. My daughter is a 7 year old student at our school…I made it for her because I know that all kids deserve what she deserves. We are four years old and this week we were the victim of a conservative political strategic attack. Just 3 weeks our mayor has decided to close our doors. The process was corrupt and the information they used was false and/or inaccurate. We are fighting the good fight, but I firmly believe our school will be shut down by the close of business on Monday. I truly believe this is the death of progressive public education in our city if we do not use this as a catalyst to attack the corporate reform agenda.</div><div>
</div><div>I know you are busy…you must be. I intend to use the closing of our school as the beginning of a rebellion. Will you help? How can I get you to Indianapolis to push this force back and make folks wake up and see what is happening? Our city is doomed if I can’t move this conversation in a different direction. We have 100’s of families, students, community members, educators ready to protest…to really blow it up…but I need more…I need a national presence…</div><div>
</div><div>Will you? What can I do?</div><div>
</div><div>Tarrey Banks</div><div>
</div><div>Categories ALEC, Black Alliance for Educational Options, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, For-Profit, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Indiana, On-Line Education, Privatization, Stand for Children, U.S. education</div><div>How a Leading Rightwing Group Views the Election</div><div>By dianeravitch</div><div>November 13, 2012 //</div><div>0</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Center for Education Reform in Washington, D.C., is one of the nation’s leading advocates for privatization of public education. Its leader, Jeanne Allen, was an education policy analyst at the rightwing think tank, the Heritage Foundation, before she founded CER in 1993:</span></div><div>
</div><div>The Center for Education Reform has long advocated for charters and vouchers. It has nothing to say about improving public schools, only that they should be replaced by private management or vouchers.</div><div>
</div><div>CER is closely allied with other conservative groups committed to privatization, like ALEC, the Heartland Institute, Democrats for Education Reform, and Black Alliance for Educational Options. CER claimed credit for helping to write the Heartland Institute’s version of the parent trigger law, which served as a model for ALEC.</div><div>
</div><div>If you want to track the advance of privatization, keep your eye on the Center for Education Reform.</div><div>
</div><div>This is CER’s take on the 2012 elections (to see the links, go to the CER website):</div><div>
</div><div><b>The Center for Education Reform Analysis:</b></div><div>How Education Reform Fared on Election Day</div><div>
</div><div>WASHINGTON, DC – The Center for Education Reform analyzed Tuesday’s results through the prism of education reform. Our EDlection Roundup provides our analysis on races up and down the ballots, including:</div><div>
</div><div>The White House: The Center congratulated President Obama and offered thoughts about how he could refocus education issues in his second term.</div><div>
</div><div>Governors: Two states, North Carolina and Indiana, will be inaugurating reform-minded Governors. They join the 23 other states who are also led by reformers. Is yours one of them? See our Governor grades.</div><div>
</div><div>Senate Races: We take a look at the results of four Senate races where candidates were strong reformers, and where two – Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) – were victorious.</div><div>
</div><div>Ballot Initiatives: There were education reform ballot initiatives in Georgia, Idaho, and Washington. We look at the results, which included a decisive victory in Georgia.</div><div>
</div><div>Superintendents: We examine the results of Superintendent races, with a special look at the disappointing defeat of Tony Bennett, a stalwart reformer.</div><div>
</div><div>###</div><div>
</div><div>CER, since 1993, is the leading voice and advocate for lasting, substantive and structural education reform in the U.S. Additional information about the Center and its activities can be found at http://www.edreform.com.</div><div>
</div><div>The Center for Education Reform</div><div>(tel) 800-521-2118 • 301-986-8088 • (fax) 301-986-1826</div><div>cer@edreform.com • http://www.edreform.com</div><div>
</div><div>Categories ALEC, Black Alliance for Educational Options, Charter Schools, ConnCAN, Corporate Reformers, Democrats for Education Reform, Education Industry, For-Profit, Indiana, Parent trigger, Privatization, Vouchers</div><div>
</div><div>My Trip to Chattanooga</div><div>By dianeravitch</div><div>September 20, 2012 //</div><div>7</div><div>I had a great visit to Chattanooga and met many dedicated, civic-minded people. I was invited to visit by the Benwood Foundation, which has done an amazing job helping local public schools and supporting environmental improvement.</div><div>
</div><div>Chattanooga is a beautiful city of about 170,000 people. It has a lovely, historic central city. Everything is within walking distance or a short ride.</div><div>
</div><div>First, I met the local editorial board and had a spirited conversation with them. They literally had a columnist on the left (who sat to my left) and a columnist on the right (who sat to my right). We had a great conversation about what is happening nationally and in Tennessee.</div><div>
</div><div>Then I talked to civic and business leaders, and we had a good question-and-answer session about the ingredients needed for a community to improve its schools and how the business community could play a constructive role. I talked about the need for collaboration around children and families; the importance of prenatal care for every woman; early childhood education; the arts in every school; and how vital it is to treasure our educators. I hope that conversations like this will encourage people to ignore those who disrespect and demean educators. Our public schools are vital community institutions. I think the people of Chattanooga understand that.</div><div>
</div><div>Before my lecture, there was a reception where I met some old friends that I did not anticipate. One was Henry Shulson, the director of the Chattanooga Children’s Museum. I knew him when he lived next door and was about 8 years old. That was about 50 years ago!</div><div>
</div><div>At the same reception, I met a local state senator who told me that Michelle Rhee has been pouring lots of money into political campaigns in Tennessee. Most of the candidates she supports are Republicans, he said. But she pumped $105,000 into a Democratic primary fight. On one side was a liberal Democrat who supports public education; on the other was a very conservative Democrat who wants vouchers. She supported the latter, who won. He said to me, “You have to understand that legislators will work hard to raise $1,000. Can you imagine what it means to have someone give you $105,000?” He said she is going from state to state, knocking off good people who care about public education and support her Republican views.</div><div>
</div><div>The lecture went really well. The room at the University of Tennessee was animated. What amazed me was that on several occasions I made statements that caused the audience literally to gasp. I recall saying that states should never cut education to give tax breaks to corporation–which seems like a truism to me–and I heard an audible gasp. Tennessee has been so eager to lure corporations to the state that I think what I said was heresy, yet music to the ears of educated people.</div><div>
</div><div>Chattanooga is a city that has enormous potential. There is a real hunger to build a community, to have a city that takes care of its own. That’s a great beginning for the revitalization of public education.</div><div>
</div><div>Categories Black Alliance for Educational Options, Education Reform, Tennessee</div><div>What Is The Mind Trust?</div><div>By dianeravitch</div><div>September 19, 2012 //</div><div>11</div><div>When I first read that The Mind Trust had proposed a sweeping reorganization of the Indianapolis public schools, I assumed it was another reform scheme to dismantle and privatize public education.</div><div>
</div><div>But I didn’t want to jump to conclusions, so I held my tongue. I decided to wait and see.</div><div>
</div><div>Today I received an invitation from The Mind Trust to hear one of the nation’s leading voucher advocates and all doubt was dispelled.</div><div>
</div><div>When I saw that the event was co-sponsored by the anti-teacher, anti-public school group “Stand for Children,” as well as Education Reform Now (the Wall Street hedge fund managers’ front-group), no further question remained.</div><div>
</div><div>Something tells me that Howard Fuller, the speaker, won’t acknowledge that the children in voucher schools do no better than those in public schools. Nor will he admit that black children in Milwaukee schools, whether public, charter or voucher, have NAEP scores about the same as black children in Mississippi. That’s the result of 21 years of competition, with public dollars divided three ways.</div><div>
</div><div>Indiana, once so proud of its tradition of public schooling, is now the playground for privatization, for-profit charters, TFA, and entrepreneurs of all stripes.</div><div>
</div><div>Time for Hoosiers to wake up before the reformers sell off or give away the public sector.</div><div>
</div><div>Categories Black Alliance for Educational Options, Charter Schools, Corporate Reformers, Education Industry, Education Reform, For-Profit, Indiana, National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), Privatization, Teach for America TFA, Vouchers, Wisconsin</div><div>How Bill Gates’ Ideas Taint Other Nations Too</div><div>By dianeravitch</div><div>July 13, 2012 //</div><div>16</div><div>Under the influence of wrong-headed economists, Bill Gates has publicly stated that teachers should not be paid more for experience or education because such things do not raise test scores. This is really a terrible set of ideas. I have never met a teacher who said that experience doesn’t matter. Every teacher I know says that he or she tried to improve every year, and that they didn’t reach their stride until five to seven years in the classroom. As for education, I don’t know how a master’s degree affects test scores, but I would think someone who believes in education would want more education and would find it valuable to study subjects and the issues of education in greater depth. The “philosophy,” if you can call it that, that everything should be decided by test scores or some other metric, is essentially anti-intellectual and detrimental to the larger goals of education.</div><div>
</div><div>A reader sent me this email about how the education philosophy of Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation is affecting the rest of the world, and not for the better:</div><div>
</div><div>You recently wrote: “I am puzzled by their funding of ‘astroturf’ groups of young teachers who insist that they don’t want any job protections, don’t want to be rewarded for their experience (of which they have little) or for any additional degrees, and certainly don’t want to be represented by a collective bargaining unit.”</div><div> </div><div>I have an anecdote that may interest you. A few months ago, I was teaching in Saudi Arabia. The head of the program showed a video clip to all the teachers, about seventy of us. In the short video, Mr. Gates said that teaching experience and graduate degrees were not important for teaching performance. The director said he agreed with Gates after showing the video. By the way, the director has far less teaching experience and is far less educated than myself and many of the other teachers. Not only that, I was hired just a few months previously based on part on my extensive classroom experience. I am no longer working for that organization. The direstor made it clear that day and later that highly-educated and experienced instructors were not welcome. I will be starting-hopefully-a new position soon.</div><div>Bottom-line: Mr. Gates’s approach to education has had a pernicious impact both in the USA and abroad.</div><div>Categories Black Alliance for Educational Options, Education Reform, Gates Foundation, Bill Gates</div><div>More About the Boston Consulting Group: Read It and Weep</div><div>By dianeravitch</div><div>July 12, 2012 //</div><div>16</div><div>In an earlier post today, I wondered about the Boston Consulting Group. I knew this was a major management consulting organization, one of those companies that helps corporations do strategic planning. I knew that they advised the Philadelphia School Reform Commission to privatize a large number of its schools and gave the same advice to the planning committee for Memphis.</div><div>
</div><div>This bothers me because public schools are supposed to be instruments of the local community; they are supposed to be run along democratic principles, attuned to the needs and aspirations of their local community, employing professionals to carry out professional responsibilities on behalf of the community. But along come the hired guns to rearrange the schools of the community and give them to private corporations. I wondered, who are these guys? What is the source of their expert knowledge of public education?</div><div>
</div><div>A faithful reader did the research and she found an article that answers most of my questions. The post went up only hours ago! This reader, who posts anonymously, wasted no time.</div><div>
</div><div>I read the article. It is jaw-dropping. It deserves a post all to itself. It is not just about BCG. It is about Philadelphia, Chicago, Cleveland, North Carolina, Delaware, and many other places where the corporate reformers are taking over public education for fun and profit. It’s about the close ties between BCG and KIPP.</div><div>
</div><div>Please read it. If only half of it is true, we are in deep trouble. If all of it is true…well, what can I say. Read it.</div><div>
</div><div>And this article details the influence of consultants in general and BCG in particular. You begin to understand why so much of the federal funding gets siphoned off by consultants, the biggest growth industry. One analysis concluded that 25-35 percent of federal funding for  School Improvement Grants went not to the schools but to consultants.</div><div>
</div><div>One thing that becomes clear is BCG’s interest in cutting costs. Another is in opening the path to for-profit corporations. Not much about any interest in education or learning or curriculum or teacher morale or such.</div><div>
</div><div>These guys should not be flying under the radar. Let them be known by what they advocate and what they do to our community schools.</div><div>
</div><div>Here is an excerpt from the article:</div><div>
</div><div>“Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has been around the block or two when it comes to corporate schooling, even though it profits from other consulting and includes as alumni Mitt Romney, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and hedge fund manager John Paulson. Along with Broad Foundation support, the consulting firm worked on Delaware’s Vision 2015 for a longer school day in 2007, designed a business plan for the North Carolina New Schools Project, and have left footprints  in Cleveland, Arizona, Seattle, Chicago, Memphis, and New Orleans. BCG, as Daniel Denvir has noticed, recommended “that New Orleans, which has decimated its teachers’ union and put most schools under charter control, create the exact same species of achievement networks in 2006” as the ones proposed for Philly.</div><div>
</div><div>“Since at least 2007, BCG has been working on linking teacher pay to student test scores and so-called academic achievement for the Dallas Independent School District. Under J. Puckett’s Texas office leadership, BCG has also struck a deal with Uplift Education, where Jeb Bush’s son, George P., sits on the board of directors.  Puckett and Phil Montgomery, Uplift’s founding member, both sit on the board of Commit, an IBM, Bank of America, Bank of One-funded school group. Puckett was also a player in the Exxon Mobile/Gates Foundation-hyped National Math and Science Initiative (page 27, PDF box).</div><div>
</div><div>“BCG heavily promotes online learning in K-12 and college. In “Unleashing the Potential of Technology in Education,” the consulting firm calls for an “aligned set of educational objectives, standards, curricula, assessments, interventions, and professional development,” all centered around online technology. Deeming charter schools the leaders of internet schooling, the “study’s” authors quote online profiteer and Democrat for Education Reform’s Tom Vander Ark, praises Rocketship for hiring low wage non-teachers, and thanks their senior advisor, Margaret Spelling, Bush’s U.S. Secretary of Education. The” report” also praises the conflict-of-interest-laden School of One in NYC and KIPP’s BetterLesson program.</div><div>
</div><div>Categories Black Alliance for Educational Options, Boston Consulting Group</div></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">---
</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">he <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">New York Times wrote  about the control of the</span><a href="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/05/28/business/media/behind-the-scenes-billionaires-growing-control-of-news.html?emc=edit_th_20160528&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=50637717&referer=" style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"> mass media by billionaires</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, </span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">an issue that should concern us all. Not only do they own the media, some use it to </span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">
</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" line-height="line-height" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">promote their financial self-interest and political ideology.</span>
</font><div class="post-content" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; width: 38.333em; overflow: visible; line-height: 18px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">This is is not an entirely new phenomenon, the story notes, mentioning William Randolph Hearst as an example. But Hearst co-existed with thousands of community newspapers. In this age of concentrated ownership of the media, a handful of moguls own the news.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Jim Rutenberg, the reporter, points out an ominous development. Billionaire Peter Thiel bankrolled a lawsuit by wrestler Hulk Hoganagainst Gawker.com, a gossip website, as payback for Gawker’s report that he was gay. Hogan won $140 million, which, if upheld on appeal, would put Gawker out of business.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">This is an ingenious way to stifle dissent. If a billionaire doesn’t like a website, he or she can sue it into bankruptcy.</font></p></div><div class="clearboth" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; line-height: 18px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><div class="post-meta-data" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 10em; padding: 0.333em 0px; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(209, 217, 220); outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; height: 36px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 18px; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Categories</font><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; float: right; clear: both; width: 38.333em; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; float: right; clear: both; width: 38.333em; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://dianeravitch.net/category/billionaires/" rel="category tag" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Billionaires</a>, <a href="https://dianeravitch.net/category/black-alliance-for-educational-options/" rel="category tag" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Black Alliance for Educational Options</a>, <a href="https://dianeravitch.net/category/education-reform/" rel="category tag" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Education Reform</a>, <a href="https://dianeravitch.net/category/freedom-of-speech/" rel="category tag" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Freedom of Speech</a>, <a href="https://dianeravitch.net/category/media/" rel="category tag" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Media</a></font></span></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
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word-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">The <span style="font-weight: bold;">Black Alliance for Educational Options</span> is one of the nation's leading organizations in the parental choice movement. Our mission is to increase access to ...</font></span></a></div></div><table class="nrgt" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="margin-left: 22px;"><tbody><tr class="mslg _Amc"><td style="padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 4px; vertical-align: top;"><div class="sld vsc" style="display: inline-block; position: relative; width: 294px; border: 1px solid transparent; border-radius: 2px; margin-top: 2px; padding: 3px 0px 3px 5px; transition: opacity 0.2s ease;"><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Tyb"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="l" href="http://www.baeo.org/?ns_ref=14&id=5457" data-ved="0ahUKEwjB6rDmgbzNAhUPzmMKHTgiAE8QjBAIJTAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">Who We Are</a></h3></span></font></font><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em;"><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></font><div class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; width: 220px;"><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">We are passionate about improving the futures of Black ...
</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div></div></div></td><td style="padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 4px; vertical-align: top;"><div class="sld vsc" style="display: inline-block; position: relative; width: 294px; border: 1px solid transparent; border-radius: 2px; margin-top: 2px; padding: 3px 0px 3px 5px; transition: opacity 0.2s ease;"><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Tyb"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="l" href="http://www.baeo.org/?ns_ref=14&id=5660" data-ved="0ahUKEwjB6rDmgbzNAhUPzmMKHTgiAE8QjBAIJzAE" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">Board of Directors</a></h3></span></font></font><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em;"><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></font><div class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; width: 220px;"><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Board Of Directors. Deborah McGriff. Vice Chair & Acting ...
</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div></div></div></td></tr><tr class="mslg"><td style="padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 4px; vertical-align: top;"><div class="sld vsc" style="display: inline-block; position: relative; width: 294px; border: 1px solid transparent; border-radius: 2px; margin-top: 2px; padding: 3px 0px 3px 5px; transition: opacity 0.2s ease;"><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Tyb"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="l" href="http://www.baeo.org/?ns_ref=14&id=5661" data-ved="0ahUKEwjB6rDmgbzNAhUPzmMKHTgiAE8QjBAIKTAC" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">National Staff</a></h3></span></font></font><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em;"><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></font><div class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; width: 220px;"><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">National Staff. Jacqueline Cooper President Bio | Email. Kevin ...
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</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div></div></div></td></tr><tr class="mslg"><td style="padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 4px; vertical-align: top;"><div class="sld vsc" style="display: inline-block; position: relative; width: 294px; border: 1px solid transparent; border-radius: 2px; margin-top: 2px; padding: 3px 0px 3px 5px; transition: opacity 0.2s ease;"><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Tyb"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="l" href="http://www.baeo.org/?ns_ref=13&id=5549" data-ved="0ahUKEwjB6rDmgbzNAhUPzmMKHTgiAE8QjBAILTAD" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">Annual Symposium</a></h3></span></font></font><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em;"><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></font><div class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; width: 220px;"><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">BAEO's Annual Symposium is the largest gathering of Black ...
</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div></div></div></td><td style="padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 4px; vertical-align: top;"><div class="sld vsc" style="display: inline-block; position: relative; width: 294px; border: 1px solid transparent; border-radius: 2px; margin-top: 2px; padding: 3px 0px 3px 5px; transition: opacity 0.2s ease;"><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Tyb"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="l" href="http://www.baeo.org/?ns_ref=14&id=5458" data-ved="0ahUKEwjB6rDmgbzNAhUPzmMKHTgiAE8QjBAILzAG" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">Organizational History</a></h3></span></font></font><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em;"><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></font><div class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; width: 220px;"><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Organizational History. Photo of a BAEO child In March 1999, the ...
</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div></div></div></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" style="padding-left: 6px; vertical-align: top;"><div class="mrf" style="padding-top: 6px;"><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=+site:baeo.org+black+alliance+for+educational+options&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjB6rDmgbzNAhUPzmMKHTgiAE8QrAMIMA" style="text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">More results from baeo.org »</font></a></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div><hr class="rgsep" style="border-width: 0px; height: 1px; margin: 0px -8px 16px;" /><div class="srg"><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 23px;"><div class="rc" data-hveid="50" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.activistfacts.com/organizations/492-black-alliance-for-education-options/" style="cursor: pointer; 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cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">The <span style="font-weight: bold;">Black Alliance for Educational Options</span> (<span style="font-weight: bold;">BAEO</span>) is a nonprofit organization that describes its goal as “increas[ing] access to high-quality educational options<wbr /> ...</font></span></a></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 23px;"><div class="rc" data-hveid="56" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Alliance_for_Educational_Options" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Black Alliance for Educational Options - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</font></a></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; 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It is one of the<wbr /> ...</font></span></a></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 23px;"><div class="rc" data-hveid="63" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://cloakinginequity.com/2013/07/28/the-teat-baeo-choice-and-strings-attached/" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Teat: @ntlBAEO, Choice, $, and Strings Attached? – Cloaking ...</font></a></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f kv SWb" style="height: 17px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><cite class="Rm bc" style="font-style: normal;">cloakinginequity.com › The Teat</cite></font><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; 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A few days ago I was giving an interview to an LA Times ...</font></span></a></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 23px;"><div class="rc" data-hveid="70" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="http://www.susanohanian.org/show_research.php?id=34" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Black Alliance for Educational Options - Susan Ohanian Speaks Out</font></a></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f kv _SWb" style="height: 17px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><cite class="Rm" style="font-style: normal;">www.susanohanian.org/show_research.php?id=34</cite></font><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; 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Susan Notes: People For the American Way has done public education a ...</font></span></a></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 23px;"><div class="rc" data-hveid="76" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://dianeravitch.net/category/black-alliance-for-educational-options/" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Black Alliance for Educational Options | Diane Ravitch's blog</font></a></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f kv _SWb" style="height: 17px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><cite class="Rm" style="font-style: normal;">https://dianeravitch.net/category/<b>black</b>-<b>alliance-for-educational</b>-<b>options</b>/</cite></font><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; 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cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="f">Sep 18, 2008 - </span>The <span style="font-weight: bold;">Black Alliance for Educational Options</span> (<span style="font-weight: bold;">BAEO</span>) is an organization dedicated to the eradication of public schools. It received much of its ...</font></span></a></div></div></div></div></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Black_Alliance_for_Educational_Options+black+alliance+for+educational+options&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjB6rDmgbzNAhUPzmMKHTgiAE8QHwhWMAw" style="text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" color="#000000">=</font></a><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Black_Alliance_for_Educational_Options+black+alliance+for+educational+options&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjB6rDmgbzNAhUPzmMKHTgiAE8QHwhWMAw" style="text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /><p style="line-height: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Black_Alliance_for_Educational_Options+black+alliance+for+educational+options&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjB6rDmgbzNAhUPzmMKHTgiAE8QHwhWMAw" style="text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="nclb" style="font-weight: 700;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Black Alliance for Educational Options: Community Voice or Captive of the Right?</font></span></a></p><p style="line-height: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><b>Susan Notes:</b> People For the American Way has done public education a great service by revealing, in carefully documented research, the right-wing underpinnings of the voucher movement.</font></p><p style="line-height: normal;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Community Voice or Captive of the Right? </span>
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A Closer Look at the Black Alliance for Educational Options </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">by People For the American Way </span>

<b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">BAEO's Founding: Image and Strategy</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">With the voucher legislation and ballot initiatives of the 1980s failing, voucher proponents embraced a new strategy – adopting the language of the civil rights movement and targeting the African American community. This political strategy is designed to boost support for vouchers, not only among African Americans, but also among progressive and moderate suburban whites, many of whom support strong public schools. The current public relations and legislative focus on poor children does not alter right-wing voucher proponents' long-term goal of broader-based voucher systems and privatization that would irreparably harm public education. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">BAEO announced its formation on August 24, 2000 at a national press conference in Washington, D.C. Former Milwaukee Schools Superintendent Dr. Howard Fuller, the group's president and founder, said it would support tax-funded voucher programs, private scholarships, tuition tax credits, charter schools and public/private partnerships. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Almost immediately after formation, BAEO began running print ads in several national newspapers, including the Washington Post, Washington Times, and New York Times, and over a dozen community newspapers with predominantly black readership.1 The ads feature young African American students and their parents repeating BAEO's mantra, "Parental school choice is widespread – unless you're poor." Designed to put a new face on what has traditionally been a largely white Republican movement, the ads' objective, Fuller explained, "is to change the face of [the voucher] movement."2 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The ad campaign expanded after the November 2000 election to include television and radio spots in the Washington, D.C. area in what BAEO organizers described as a targeted attempt to influence key opinion-makers, like lawmakers and journalists. Kaleem Caire, BAEO's then-executive director, explained the ad campaign strategy in a Family News in Focus article, saying, "[Washington, D.C.] has the most opinion leaders in the country – and it's out there where we felt that the message needed to be sent first."3 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A second blitz of television ads touting the benefits of voucher programs in Milwaukee, Cleveland and Florida ran from April through June 2001. "Anybody who watches TV in Washington, D.C.," Jim Manley, press secretary for Senator Ted Kennedy told USA Today, "is going to stumble across these ads."4 In addition to Washington, D.C. and national newspapers, the campaign targeted 30 newspapers and 35 radio stations in Wisconsin, where the fight over vouchers is a constant part of the political landscape.5 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The extent of BAEO ad spending was the source of some speculation. The group announced it was beginning operations with a $900,000 budget in August 2000 and reported spending $1.3 million on the November 2000 ads. However, given BAEO's aggressive advertising in expensive media markets, their total ad spending was likely far higher. By July 2001, the Christian Science Monitor reported that some estimated BAEO's ad buys were worth as much as $3 million6 – a handsome feat considering the group was only a year old at the time. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">According to a June 2003 study, BAEO's spending on advocacy ads was at least as high as those early estimates. The Annenberg Public Policy Center found that BAEO's 2001 print and television ads in the Washington D.C. market alone cost $4.33 million.7 This spending for one year8 made BAEO the fourth-largest spender during the entire 2001-02 time period studied, ranking it above the AARP and Lockheed Martin.9 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Annenberg study also found that BAEO's ads accounted for 89% of the total pro-voucher spending. Furthermore, pro-voucher ads targeting Washington D.C. totaled $4.9 million, while comparable anti-voucher spending came to only $870,000.10 </span>

<b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Expanding the PR Machine </b>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Like the school voucher movement as a whole, BAEO sought to create a presence in cities around the country considered to be important voucher battlegrounds. The new group had quick expansion plans – and deep pockets to back them up. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In March 2001, BAEO began its organizing efforts with its first annual meeting in Milwaukee – bringing over 600 African-American voucher backers from 35 states together for the express purpose of starting local chapters. By May, chapters were operating in Milwaukee, New York, Denver, Indianapolis and Philadelphia and the group claimed to be organizing chapters in nine other cities. Two months later, BAEO announced the formation of a new chapter in St. Louis, which immediately announced plans to start running ads.11 One of the Indianapolis chapter's first activities was to host a conference with the prominent African American voucher supporter Rev. Floyd Flake as the keynote speaker.12 By the summer of 2002, BAEO had tapped into the network of existing local African-American voucher supporters and formed 33 local chapters.13 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">BAEO quickly converted the new activists into spokespeople, amplifying its press coverage. BAEO spokespeople were quoted widely in national education stories such as the Supreme Court's hearing of the Cleveland voucher case and on the debate over President Bush's voucher proposals. BAEO joined the roster of pro-voucher press conferences and briefings, often teaming up with representatives from pro-voucher partisans like the Cato Institute and controversial researcher Paul Peterson.14 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">With voucher supporters firmly in control of education policy in the White House, BAEO also networked with policymakers like Education Secretary Rod Paige. In June 2002, both Howard Fuller and BAEO president Lawrence Patrick spoke at an Education Department conference titled</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">: "Gaining Momentum for Choice: Celebrating the Next Decade of Charter Schools in America."15 In January 2003, Kaleem Caire – who had just moved from BAEO to the closely-related American Education Reform Council [see pp. 6-7] – was named to the Education Department's Independent Review Panel for the National Assessment of Title I. Title I is the major federal program intended to improve the academic achievement of disadvantaged students, and the panel was charged with advising the government "on the methodological and other issues that arise in carrying out the mandated evaluation of Title I."16 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Perhaps BAEO's most notable expansion was in its funding base. In October 2002, BAEO received a $600,000 federal grant, "to develop an intense public information campaign to reach parents about the choices available to them under the sweeping federal No Child Left Behind Act."† According to a Department of Education press release, the campaign was to target communities in Dallas, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia. Said Education Department Undersecretary Eugene Hickok, "We want to change the conversation about parental choice by positively influencing individuals who are resisting parental choice options and get them to reconsider their outlook."17 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In February 2003, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded BAEO $4 million to create 15 new high schools.18 Not only is this an enormous leap in funding, it is also quite a change in course for a group that has largely served a media advocacy function for a political movement. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">†Though it is too early to get a full account of how BAEO is administering its federal grant, at least one example was reported in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The local chapter, run by Howard Fuller and Deborah McGriff, sent out postcards and established a hotline to promote a new program required under the federal "No Child Left Behind" law. In order to provide the required "supplemental services" – such as summer tutoring for students attending low-ranked schools – Milwaukee public schools diverted $11 million from a summer school program that served 17,000 students to one that will serve about 5,000. Thousands of Milwaukee children may not be in summer school as a result of the funding switch. The new tutoring program was only half full according to a May 30, 2003 news report. </span>
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span>
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
The Money Tree </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">BAEO bills itself as a coalition of up-and-coming leaders working within the African-American community. But a closer look shows that BAEO has been bankrolled by a small number of right-wing foundations better known for supporting education privatization and affirmative action rollbacks than empowerment of the African American community or low-income families. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Four groups that BAEO originally listed as benefactors back in 2001 are major players in the right-wing voucher movement. In fact, the Walton Foundation and the Bradley Foundation have financed much of the movement. The Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation and the American Education Reform Council are pro-voucher advocacy groups that – while also receiving significant funding from the Walton and Bradley Foundations – are lending their own significant support to BAEO, the relative newcomer. </span>

<b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Lynde and Harry </b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Bradley Foundation</b> </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">It is not surprising that BAEO is headquartered in Milwaukee. Wisconsin has been the linchpin of the voucher movement for over a decade and the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation has been at the center of the action. In 2001, the Bradley Foundation gave $500,000 to BAEO for general operations.19 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Providing not only money but also connections – Fuller describes Joyce as a longtime personal friend20 – the Bradley Foundation's support brings BAEO into the forefront of the school voucher movement. Bradley has also funded Fuller's pro-voucher think tank at Milwaukee's Marquette University, the Institute for the Transformation of Learning (ITL). As of June 2001, the ITL received more than $1.7 million from Bradley for its various projects.21 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Milwaukee school voucher program has long received crucial support from the Bradley Foundation. In fact, former Wisconsin School Superintendent John Benson says the program would never have started if it were not for Michael Joyce, president of the Bradley Foundation until July 2001. Joyce was "the firepower behind the voucher initiative," says Benson. "He's the one who fired up and then convinced then-Governor [Tommy] Thompson," Benson explains, "Without them, we wouldn't have school vouchers."22 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Bradley Foundation played a key role when the Milwaukee voucher program came under legal challenge for violating the separation of church and state after the program expanded to allow tax-funded vouchers to be used in parochial schools. Bradley gave the state of Wisconsin $350,000 to pay for the work that Kenneth Starr, former independent counsel, and his firm Kirkland & Ellis did to defend the voucher program before the Wisconsin State Supreme Court.23 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Bradley Foundation is considered one of the leading right-wing foundations in the country, granting more than $355 million from 1985 to 1999 to right-wing think tanks, affirmative action rollback projects, and efforts to privatize the education system. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">On the Bradley Foundation's grant list: </span>
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Heritage Foundation and American Enterprise Institute (AEI), two right-wing think tanks with considerable influence in Congress and the current Bush administration, received $11 million and $12 million respectively from Bradley between 1985-98. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In addition to Heritage and AEI, Bradley funds a number of right-wing think tanks that are working to institute vouchers, tuition tax credits and other proposals that would funnel public money to private schools. This includes the Center for Education Reform, the Heartland Institute, the Claremont Institute and the Free Congress Foundation. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Center for the Study of Popular Culture </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">has received almost $4 million in Bradley grants since 1989.24 <b>David Horowitz, </b>the center's president, most recently caused an uproar on college campuses when he tried to run an ad in campus newspapers entitled "Ten Reasons Why Reparations for Slavery is a Bad Idea-and Racist Too." Horowitz's ninth reason asked "Where is the gratitude of black America" for the gift of "the highest standard of living of blacks anywhere in the world?" </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Charles Murray, co-author of the highly controversial 1994 book The Bell Curve,</b> which suggests African Americans are intellectually inferior to whites, received almost $1 million from Bradley while at AEI.26 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Anti-affirmative action groups are other Bradley favorites. This includes the American Civil Rights Institute, started by Ward Connerly, who led the successful effort to eliminate California's affirmative action programs in 1996, and the Center for Individual Rights, which led a successful legal challenge to affirmative action at the University of Texas Law School.27 </span>

<b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">John Walton</b><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> and the Walton Family Foundation</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">BAEO started operations with a $900,000 budget. According to the right-wing weekly Human Events, this came entirely from the Walton Family Foundation. Through the Walton Family Foundation, Wal-Mart heir John Walton is one of the voucher movement's most prolific donors, providing a steady stream of money for almost every element of the movement, from think tanks to political campaigns. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">On the policy and research front, the Walton Foundation funds pro-voucher think tanks like the Goldwater Institute and the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. On the legislative front, John Walton personally contributed $2 million to the failed 2000 Michigan voucher initiative28 as well as $250,000 to California's Prop 174 in 1993, another unsuccessful voucher initiative.29 Walton also bankrolled the California effort through his American Education Reform Foundation30, as well as an unsuccessful 1997 voucher campaign in Minnesota.31 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">When voucher programs in Wisconsin and Ohio came under legal fire, right-wing legal groups like the Landmark Legal Foundation and Institute for Justice (IJ), with financial support from both the Walton and Bradley Foundations, defended them in court.32 IJ's co-founder, Clint Bolick, who previously worked for Landmark, has strong ties to the anti-affirmative action movement, authoring the book "The Affirmative Action Fraud: Can We Restore the American Civil Rights Vision?"33 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Walton Foundation granted more than $14 million in 2000 to private "scholarship" funds.34 These private voucher programs are often started and funded by the same people who are lobbying for publicly-funded vouchers. They believe that privately-funded voucher programs will help create political momentum toward publicly-funded vouchers. </span>
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
<b>American Education Reform Council (AERC)</b> </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">AERC poured $185,000 – a whopping 65% of its grant money – into BAEO in 2001.35 AERC, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3), is affiliated with the American Education Reform Foundation (AERF), which serves as AERC's lobbying arm. The two groups share office space and Susan Mitchell heads both groups. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">AERC is intimately connected to BAEO in both staffing and funding. John Walton not only funds AERC – giving almost one million dollars via the Walton Foundation between 1999 and 200036 – but was also AERF's previous president and provided its initial grant.37 The Bradley Foundation also supports AERC, providing $300,000 grants in 1998 and 2000.38 It is clear that the Bradley and Walton Foundations have a key role in both directly and indirectly funding BAEO. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In addition, Howard Fuller himself sits on the AERC board alongside John Walton.39 Kaleem Caire stepped down from his position as executive director of BAEO to become Project Director for AERC's national effort to expand parent options.40 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">As a 501(c)(3), AERC's political advocacy is restricted. It cannot endorse political candidates and may only do a minimal amount of lobbying on legislation. However, AERC ran "informational" advertisements during the Colorado and Michigan voucher campaigns in 1998 and 2000, respectively. AERC spent $500,000 on the Michigan initiative, in addition to the $2 million Walton spent out of his own pocket. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">AERC activities apparently extend beyond advertising to organizing local grassroots organizations. A Friedman Foundation newsletter credits AERC and the Institute for Justice for working together to start Pensacola Parents For School Choice in May 2000.41 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Without the restrictions of a 501(c)(3), AERF can participate in more overtly political activities.† It was a major force behind failed efforts to get a voucher referendum on the California ballot in 1996 and 1998.42 Walton and AERF then teamed up with a combined $410,000 in an unsuccessful attempt to pass Proposition 226, so-called "paycheck protection," in California to limit the use of union money being spent in political campaigns.43 The organizers of the anti-union measure all worked together on the state's failed 1993 voucher initiative and saw the measure as payback for money the teacher's union spent to "cream the measure."44 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">AERF drew public criticism in 1997 when it hired Sterling Tucker, a community activist and former D.C. City Councilman, to organize support for a DC voucher program designed by House Majority Leader Richard Armey (R-TX). Local officials opposed this congressional effort to impose a voucher program in the District of Columbia. Several black ministers, who had initially supported the program, later withdrew their support, accusing Tucker of misleading them about the program and not disclosing his connection with AERF.45 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">† AERF's more political activities have, at times, been controversial. The group became embroiled in an investigation surrounding the 1997 re-election campaign of Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Jon Wilcox, an important race given the court's role in deciding legal challenges to the voucher program. Wilcox opponent Walt Kelly accused Wilcox campaign manager Mark Block and get-out-the-vote organizer Brent Pickens of illegally coordinating campaign activities. The state election board launched an investigation that eventually included AERF. J. Patrick Rooney and Kevin Teasley, then AERF chairman and president, had met with Block after being notified of the importance of the Wilcox election to the Milwaukee voucher program by Bradley Foundation staffers. Although AERF was not found in violation of election law and reportedly denied repeated requests for contributions by Block, Teasley wrote to AERF board members and other voucher supporters, informing them of the importance of Wilcox's election. Following Teasley's letter, AERF board member Robert Thompson contributed $10,000 to Wilcox's campaign, the maximum allowed under law. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Rooney and Teasley have extensive right-wing credentials. Teasley, former president of AERF, has worked for the Heritage Foundation, the libertarian Reason Foundation, and served in the Reagan White House Office of Public Liaison. Rooney has subsidized private vouchers in his home state of Indiana and told the right-wing Heartland Institute's School Reform News, "We are not going to fix the present system, so quit kidding ourselves." In the same interview, he recommended that readers "invade the schools." </span>

<b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Milton and Rose D. </b><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Friedman Foundation, I</b><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">nc.</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In 2001, the Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation gave $20,000 to BAEO to write the group's amicus brief in the Cleveland voucher case argued before the Supreme Court. It also gave $20,800 to BAEO's Indiana chapter.46 The Friedman Foundation gave a total of $70,000 to Marquette University for a symposium on "Educational Options for African Americans" that was run by BAEO.47 Such meetings provided Fuller's base for launching BAEO. In 2000, The Friedman Foundation gave $230,000 – over a quarter of its grant money for the year – to the AERC to cover production of five television and four radio commercials for BAEO.48 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Economist Milton Friedman and his wife Rose founded the Friedman Foundation in 1996 "as the first national foundation devoted exclusively to promoting parental choice."49 The Friedman Foundation promotes vouchers on a number of fronts. The group provides financial grants to groups like BAEO, but it also does a great deal of pro-voucher work directly out of its Indiana headquarters.50 For instance, the Foundation spent over $3 million from 1999-2000 on its own ad campaigns promoting vouchers in California, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, and Washington D.C.51 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Milton Friedman, who won a Nobel Prize for his work on monetary theory, is credited with laying the original academic framework for voucher theory in the 1950's. Friedman's academic work focuses more on the financial profits school privatization could reap rather than the purported assistance it could offer low-income students in failing schools – the interest BAEO purports to represent. In 1995 Friedman wrote, "the privatization of schooling would produce a new, highly active and profitable private industry."52 Friedman insists that voucher programs ought to include everyone, regardless of economic class. "Programs that are designed for the poor will be poor programs," he told the editor of the pro-voucher School Reform News.53 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Friedman Foundation had assets totaling $5.3 million in 1999, and also received $100,000 from the Walton Foundation in 1999 and 2000.54 J. Patrick Rooney, the wealthy voucher backer and former AERF chair, also sits on the Friedman Foundation Board. Rooney is also associated with the pro-voucher Greater Educational Opportunities Foundation, with which three BAEO board members are affiliated. </span>

<b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Other Grants</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Financial documents show that contributions are coming from other right-wing groups as well. In 2001, the Olin Foundation gave $100,000 for BAEO's "work to support parental choice in education," and the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation gave $25,000.55 </span>

<i style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">For biographies of the BAEO board members, go to the People for the Americann Way website.</i><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span>

<b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Conclusion</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">BAEO's well-funded public relations campaign is the most recent tactic to emerge from the Right's strategic campaign to re-cast the image of the voucher movement and build broader political support for policies that would undermine the public education system. For years, the Right has tried to cultivate a small, but visible, base of African American support for its agenda on such issues as vouchers and gay rights. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Right-wing groups have also put a great deal of effort into cultivating African-American spokespeople, and working to counter the legacy of mistrust that communities of color have for a movement that has historically ranged from indifference to opposition toward racial justice efforts. Yet, at the same time, the right-wing political movement has continued to attack traditional civil rights leaders and initiatives. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">BAEO is the latest step in the Right's long effort to portray school vouchers as the new civil rights fight. The group does bring together many African-American voucher supporters and only a fraction of them are involved in right-wing politics in general. But BAEO takes its place among the other think tanks and local organizations that have been created with money from right-wing foundations as well as individuals and organizations hoping to profit from promoting increased privatization of public education. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">It is not surprising that BAEO has found support in the halls of power considering the individuals and foundations that have helped create it. Many of the group's members will no doubt find a profitable existence in the growing sector of private education businesses. However, some might take note of the experiences of Polly Williams, the Wisconsin state legislator who forged an alliance with Bradley and other right-wing voucher supporters to start the Milwaukee voucher program in the early 90s. Insistent that the program be limited to low-income children in urban areas, she found that her relations with the coalition grew cool. "I'm not supposed to have opinions. Whatever they decide to do, they call me and tell me what they decided and they expect me to do it," she said.76 Williams has since reconciled with the local NAACP and African-American voucher opponents, saying: "We've got to learn to be just as sophisticated and to know that we might be fighting on this issue, but on the next issue we will probably be together."77 </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">End Notes and Acknowledgements </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Endnotes </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Price, Joyce Howard. "Poor Youths Need School Choice, Alliance Says," Washington Times, August 25, 2000. A downloadable press release from BAEO's Web site provides information on specifically which newspapers and radio and television markets ads ran on. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Reid, Karla Scoon. "Black Alliance Weighs in With Pro-Voucher Campaign," Education Week, May 30, 2001, accessed online July 6, 2001 via: http://www.edweek.com/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=38baeo.h20&keywords=karla%20scoon%20reid </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Kleder, Martha. "Minority Groups Weighs in for School Choice," Family News In Focus, November 27, 2000. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Henry, Tamara. "Alliance Promotes Vouchers," USA Today, A1, May 7, 2001. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"Milwaukee Employers Join Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) To Set the Record Straight on School Choice," press release from BAEO and the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, May 21, 2001. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Coeyman, Marjorie. "Vouchers Get a Boost from Black Alliance," Christian Science Monitor, July 10, 2001, accessed online July 10, 2001 via: www.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/07/10/text/p19s1.html </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Annenberg Public Policy Center press release, "New Annenberg Research Tracks over $105 Million in Inside-the-Beltway Print and TV Issue Ads During the 107th Congress," June 19, 2003. Accessed via: </span>
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">http://www.appcpenn.org/issueads/final%20release.pdf </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">This page describing the details of BAEO's activity shows that there was no spending during 2002: http://www.appcpenn.org/issueads/organizations/black_alliance_for_educational_options.htm </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Annenberg Public Policy Center press release, June 19, 2003. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">This page describing spending on education issues includes the details on voucher spending: http://www.appcpenn.org/issueads/issues_education.htm </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Franck, Matthew. "Group Plans School Voucher Campaign Here," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 17, 2001. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"Black Alliance is on the Move," Barato Britt, School Reform News, 9/01. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Twohey, Megan. "Who Vouches for Vouchers?" The American Prospect, July 1, 2002. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Cato Institute event agenda, "Educational Freedom and Urban America," May 15, 2003, accessed online May 16, 2003 via: http://www.cato.org/events/urbaned/ </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"Paige Announces Fourth Annual Charter Schools Conference," U.S. Department of Education press release, June 17, 2002. Accessed online via: http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/06-2002/06172002.html </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"Panel named to Advise on National Assessment of Title I," U.S. Department of Education press release, January 30, 2003. Accessed online via: http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/01-2003/01302003.html </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"Education Department, BAEO Form Partnership to Reach Parents About Landmark No Child Left Behind Act," U.S. Department of Education press release, October 15, 2002. Accessed online via: http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/10-2002/10152002a.html </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Blum, Justin. "D.C. Charter School to Receive Grant," Washington Post, February 26, 2003. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Grant data obtained at www.mediatransparency.org </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Borsuk, Alan J. "Three Years After MPS, Fuller Still a Catalyst," Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, June 14, 1998, accessed online August 21, 2001 via: www.jsonline.com/arhcive/may98/new/0614fuller.stm </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Grant data obtained at www.mediatransparency.org shows Bradley funding of ITL is $648,465. When combined with University documents that show Howard Fuller raised $1,067,000 from Bradley between January 2000 and June 2001, the $1.7 million figure can be calculated. Marquette University grant information is available online via: http://www.mu.edu/newsfromyou/messages/13/13.html?995640770 and was accessed on July 31, 2001. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Miner, Barbara. "Michael Joyce: Gone but not Forgotten," Milwaukee Shepherd Express, Volume 22, Issue 28, accessed online July 23, 2001 via: www.shepherd–express.com/shepherd/22/28/cover_story.html </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"Anatomy of a Movement: Wisconsin Vouchers and the Bradley Foundation," prepared by Jeffrey Leverich of Wisconsin Education Association Council, 10/8/98. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Miner, Barbara. "Who's Vouching for Vouchers," The Nation, June 5, 2000. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Horowitz, David. "The Latest Civil Rights Disaster," Salon, May 30, 2000, accessed online August 3, 2001 via: www.salon.com/news/col/horo/2000/05/30/reprartions/print.html </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Miner, Barbara. "Michael Joyce: Gone but not Forgotten," Milwaukee Shepherd Express, Volume 22, Issue 28, accessed online July 23, 2001 via: www.shepherd–express.com/shepherd/22/28/cover_story.html </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ibid. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"Education Reform Briefs," Education Policy Institute, November 1, 2000, accessed online August 2, 2001 via: www.educationpolicy.org/briefs/refrmnws-Nov00A.htm </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"Privatization of Public Education: A Joint Venture of Charity and Power," People For the American Way Foundation, April 20, 1999. Hereafter referred to as "PFAW, April 1999." </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">PFAW, April 1999. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Garrett, Major. "How to Win the Education Fight," The Weekly Standard, Page 26, September 15, 1997. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Wilayto, Phil. "The Institute for Justice," briefing paper prepared by RightWatch, 2000, accessed online August 7, 2001 via: www.expecpc.com/_{ajrc/ifj.html </span>}<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ibid. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A list of Walton Family Foundation grant recipients for 1999 and 2000 is available at their web site www.wffhome.com/1999_awards.html and www.wffhone.com/2000_awards.html </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">AERC 990 form, 2001, Statement 3. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">1999 and 2000 Grant Recipients, www.wffhome.com. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Loose, Cindy. "Former D.C. Leader's Firm Is Being Paid to Push School Vouchers," Washington Post, October 6, 1997. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Bradley Foundation grant information is available online via www.bradleyfdn.org/98part2.pdf and www.bradleyfdn.org/00ar/00part2.pdf. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">AERC's 1999 and 1998 IRS disclosure forms are available from www.guidestar.org. Guide Star provides tax returns for thousands of non-profit organizations, including the Friedman, Walton, and Bradley Foundations. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Hurst, Marianne. "People in the News," Education Week, March 27, 2002; American Education Reform Council information page on www.schoolchoiceinfo.org, no longer available online. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"The 'Doers' of School Choice," School Choice Advocate, Friedman Foundation newsletter, May 2001, page 6, accessible online via: www.friedmanfoundation.org/pp6-7.web.pdf </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">PFAW, April 1999. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">PFAW, April 1999. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"The Real Story Behind 'Paycheck Protection,'" National Education Association, September 1998, 47. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Loose, Cindy. "Former D.C. Leader's Firm Is Being Paid to Push School Vouchers," Washington Post, October 6, 1997. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation 990 form, 2001, Statement 13, grants paid. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation 990 forms, 2000 and 2001, Statement 13, grants paid. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation 990 form, 2000, Statement 13, grants paid. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Quote excerpted from page iii of a Friedman Foundation booklet titled "Liberty and Education: The Collected Works on the Voucher Idea." The booklet includes seven essays from Milton and Rose D. Friedman on vouchers and privatizing education. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ibid.; "Conservative Spotlight," Human Events, January 16, 1998. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Friedman Foundation's 2000 and 1999 IRS disclosure forms. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Quote excerpted from an essay in "Liberty and Education: The collected Works of the Voucher Idea," page 61. The essay, "Public Schools: Make Them Private," by Milton and Rose D. Friedman, originally appeared in the Washington Post on February 19, 1995. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Excerpted from interview with George A. Clowes, editor of School Reform News, a Heartland Institute publication. The interview appears in the December 1998 edition of School Refrom News. Accessed online August 9, 2001 via: www.heartland.org/education/dec98/friedman.htm </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">1999 and 2000 Grant Recipients, www.wffhome.com. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Olin grant data obtained at www.mediatransparency.org; Thomas B. Fordham Foundation 990 form, 2001, Statement 16, grants paid. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ibid. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ibid. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Quote from "Reinventing Public Education," by Paul T. Hill is excerpted from an EducationNews.org article, "Education Contracting System," by Daniel Pryzbyla, August 2, 2001. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Peirce, Neal R. "A City's Courageous Crusader," National Journal, August 5, 1995. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"First Chapter for New Charter Schools," Milwaukee Shepherd Express, December 10, 1998. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Nichols, Mike. "Charter Schools Get City's OK," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 6, 1998, accessed online August 21, 2001, via: www.jsonline.com/archive/may98/news/0506chart.stm. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Gorman, Siobhan. "Politics – Bush's Lesson Plan," National Journal, August 7, 1999. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">About BAEO: Board of Directors, accessed online May 12,2003 via: http://www.baeo.org/about/directors.htm </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Golden, Daniel and Tomsho, Robert. "School-Voucher Debate Frays," Wall Street Journal, July 1, 2002. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Blair, Julie. "Critical Union Report About Charter Schools Raises Ire of Advocates," Education Week, August 7, 2002. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"Conservative Spotlight," Human Events, 11/29/96. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">According to their Web site on September 4, 2001, www.edisonschools.com, Edison runs 136 schools in 21 states plus the District of Columbia. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Miner, Barbara. "A Wall Street Yawner-Investors Dubious on For-profit Schools," Milwaukee Shepherd-Express, November 25, 1999, Volume 20, Issue 48, accessed online September 4, 2001 via www.shepherd-express.com/shepherd/20/48/columnists/commentary.html </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">May, Meredith. "Oakland Charter School Must Close Its Doors," San Francisco Chronicle, April 27, 2000, accessed online August 28, 2001 via: </span>
<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/04/27/MN56355.DTL </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ibid. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">About BAEO: Board of Directors, accessed online May 12,2003 via: http://www.baeo.org/about/directors.htm </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ibid. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ibid. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ibid. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ibid. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Stanford, Gregory. "No wonder Polly won't play," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 5/11/97. </span>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Thomas-Lynn, Felicia. "School choice pioneer chafes at her status," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 6/29/98. </span></font></p><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Black_Alliance_for_Educational_Options+black+alliance+for+educational+options&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjB6rDmgbzNAhUPzmMKHTgiAE8QHwhWMAw" style="text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" color="#000000">==</font></a></div></div></div></div></div>