This happened April 29. Boston Globe Education published a piece quoting Keri Rodrigues, president of the Walton backed AstroTurf front Massachusetts Parents United. A friend messaged me asking of the Globe “How are they so bad at this?” And my response was the Globe isn’t bad at this: it’s intentional.
But just in case the Globe actually doesn’t understand that Massachusetts Parents United isn’t a real parents group here is a collection of posts (with one bonus post, see if you can spot it): Your Massachusetts Parents United Reader.
Massachusetts Parents United, National Parents Union, and the Christian Right. Have I mentioned Ms. Rodrigues also fronts for another operation funded by the Waltons, Charles Koch, and others? That is National Parents Union. Like many corporate front organizations, MPU and NPU have ties to the Christian Right.
Let’s Try to Help Massachusetts Parents Union with “Transparency”. Stuff you won’t read in the Globe or anywhere else, like the Walton Family Foundation underwriting of MPU ($1.3 million from 2017-2019) MPU’s salaries ($730,094 in 2019), and even Ms. Rodrigues compensation from MPU and Massachusetts Parents Action (almost $400,000 in 2018-2019). Plus Boston dark money foundation funding.
Masslive Misfires on Editorial on Massachusetts Parents United of Arkansas. See, it’s not just the Globe.
Massachusetts Parents United: Grassroots or AstroTurf? An interesting four part test from Professor Daniel Katz. I’ll give away the ending: Massachusetts Parents United of Arkansas is a corporate AstroTurf operation.
Massachusetts Parents United: Old Wine in an Expensive Bottle. Even two years ago it was obvious that MPU is a Walton operation. But go to Let’s Try to Help Massachusetts Parents Union with “Transparency” for an update on its funding from oligarchs who launder their donations through donor advised funds like The Boston Foundation.
The Boston Globe-Barr Foundation Marriage and the Rise of Philanthro-Interest Group Journalism. The Barr Foundation, whose benefactor Amos Hostetter put over $2 million in dark money into Question 2 of 2016 on charter school expansion, subsidizes the Globe‘s education coverage and also helps fund Massachusetts Parents United. Conflict?
The Walton Family’s Massachusetts Political Team, 2019. MPU is the Walton’s flagship operation in the state but there are others (and their funding also goes unacknowledged in the Globe and elsewhere).
Why Massachusetts Parents United? Or it could have been titled, “Who Needs Massachusetts Parents United? The Waltons.” Coming into the state announcing “We’re the Walton heirs and we’re here to privatize your public schools” won’t do. So they hide behind “parents.”
The Money Behind Massachusetts Parents United: A Closer Look. This is a good one for explaining how foundations basically tossed out their grant criteria to fund Massachusetts Parents United.
Massachusetts Parents United: Old Wine in an Empty Bottle. I weep. This one is from 2017, when I already was highlighting MPU’s ties to dark money kissin’ cousin Democrats for Education Reform Massachusetts and the collapsed-in-corruption Families for Excellent Schools, where Ms. Rodrigues served as state director. Also, Walton and other dark money funding and the spontaneous appearance of 5,000 or 6,000 or 7,000 members, take your pick.
These are just the highlights, if you’d like more just go to https://www.masspoliticsprofs.org/ and search for Massachusetts Parents United. And stay tuned, for there will be more.
In the darkness of secrecy, sinister interest and evil in every shape, have full swing. . . . Publicity is the very soul of justice.”—Jeremy Bentham
[Full disclosure: as an educator in the UMass system, I am a union member. I write about dark money, democracy, and oligarchy.]