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Sunday, February 24, 2013

Yes, Virginia, There Really IS a Billionaire Boys Club - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher

Yes, Virginia, There Really IS a Billionaire Boys Club - Living in Dialogue - Education Week Teacher:


Yes, Virginia, There Really IS a Billionaire Boys Club

The second largest school district in the nation, Los Angeles Unified, is in the midst of what must surely be the costliest school board race ever.
This month we have seen report after report of billionaire donations rolling in, totaling almost $3 million. First we learned that Eli Broad and former Univision head Jerrold Perenchio had each pitched in $250,000. Then New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg dropped a cool million into the effort. Most recently, Michelle Rhee's StudentsFirst lobby has added in their own quarter million.
The billionaire's money is being spent to pay for what the usually staid Los Angeles Times calls "junk ads," and "serious exaggeration and distortion."
The big concern among these "reformers," is apparently that the pace of charter school expansion might be slowed. They are also very focused on eliminating or weakening due process and seniority protections for