Given the ongoing rollback of democracy in America and throughout the world, it is discouraging to see columnist Marcela García join the crusade against democratically elected school committees. That is the Globe’s editorial position too. The Globe prefers mayorally appointed school committees. We don’t need less democracy, we need more democracy. The issue at hand…
Author: Maurice Cunningham
Professor Cunningham Ph.D., J.D., is author of Dark Money and the Politics of School Privatization. He retired in 2021 as associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts at Boston but he continues his research into dark money in politics. His two reports on the dark money threat to public education are available on the Network for Public Education website: Merchants of Deception: Parent Props and their Funders, and “A Citizen’s Guide to the School Privatization Movement” (forthcoming). His work has been distributed through the Independent Media Institute and has appeared in The Bucks County Beacon (PA), Shepherd Express (WI), Alternet, Tampa Bay Times, The Daily Progress (VA), Idaho Education News, New Hampshire Bulletin, The Detroit Free Press, and The Portland Press-Herald (ME), and at Diane Ravitch’s Blog, dianeravitch.net.. His work on dark money in Massachusetts has earned him the 2017 Distinguished Public Service Award from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees and the 2018 MTA President’s Award from the Massachusetts Teachers Association. Education historian Diane Ravitch has named Professor Cunningham to her "Honor Roll" on her education blog. He can be reached at maurice.cunningham153@gmail.com.
Publications that focus upon Massachusetts Politics include two co-written chapters in the edited volume The Politics of Massachusetts Exceptionalism: Reputation Meets Reality. He has also written “Defeating ‘Death with Dignity’: Morality and Message in a Massachusetts Referendum” in American Catholic Studies (2014); “Massachusetts Politics 2012” in New England Journal of Political Science (2012); “A Christian Coalition for Catholics?: The Massachusetts Model,” Review of Religious Research (2009); and “Massachusetts Republicans: the 2004 Challenge to Democratic Legislative Hegemony,” in New England Journal of Political Science (2008).
Behind the Curtain: The Boston Foundation Is Underwriting that “Science of Reading” Lawsuit
The Boston Foundation is underwriting the plaintiffs’ law firm at the center of the Boston Globe’s story Two Mass. families sue famed literacy specialists, claiming reading curriculums were intentionally flawed. The Globe never mentions that. That dereliction masks the efforts of moneyed interests to wrest decision making from elected bodies and mold K-12 education to…
How Boston Globe’s Education Coverage Educates Us About the Capital v. Labor Divide
When I was a kid in the Sixties we’d occasionally hear stories about some poor Japanese soldier, abandoned on a Pacific island after WWII, finally being rescued while believing he was still fighting the war. That’s sort of where the Boston Globe’s post-MCAS coverage is. But as a lesson in the biased media approach to…
The Globe Puffs Up Another Dubious “Science of Reading” Program
Last week in This teacher has a super power to help her young students learn to read the Boston Globe introduced us to a new “superpower” a “research backed practice” endorsed by “experts” based on the “science of reading, or scientifically based research on how to teaching (sic) reading.” Relax. It’s just the Globe promoting…
Bloomberg Reframes Q2 on MCAS: It is Oligarchy v. Teachers Union
The framing battle over Question 2 on MCAS—is it between “parents” and the Massachusetts Teachers Association or between the “business community” and the MTA—has been settled by New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg: it is between oligarchy and the MTA or if you like, capital v. labor. The Boston Globe’s Matt Stout reports that Bloomberg pours…
Latest OCPF Filings; and the Larsen A. Whipsnade “Never give a sucker an even break” Media Awards
The latest reports are posted at the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, and they confirm: Question 2 on MCAS is a contest between capital and labor. The “parents” frame is sought by the No side and though it is false it has been swallowed whole by numerous media outlets. They will be awarded the…
How the Boston Globe and Barr Foundation Rig the Discourse II: Voices for Academic Equity
We had another fine example yesterday of “What wealthy people do is rig the discourse” in the Boston Globe’s story about high school graduation requirements based upon a report by Voices for Academic Equity. Nice name—but what is Voices for Academic Equity? The Globe story is Half of all Mass. high schools don’t abide by…
Protect Our Kids Future Committee Flips Off Massachusetts Political Press. How Will They Respond?
The Protect Our Kids’ Future: No on 2 campaign announced a new ad featuring Keri Rodrigues of National Parents Union as a typical Massachusetts parent. It’s a direct challenge to Massachusetts media outlets: are they going to swallow Rodrigues as a typical Massachusetts parent, or report her her as a highly compensated professional spokesperson for…
Framing the MCAS Opposition: “Business Community” or “Parents”?
How the media frames the opposing sides on a ballot question is important. On the MCAS question one side is easy: it’s the teachers unions, especially the Massachusetts Teachers Association. According to the media the opposing side is either or both of the “business community” and “parents” (actually, one parent: Keri Rodrigues of the Walton…
The Barr Foundation and the Boston Globe “Rig the Discourse”
When I wrote Barr Foundation K-12 Interest Groups Throw Their Weight (and Dollars) Around in May I closed with a quote from Anand Giridharadas, “What wealthy people do is rig the discourse.” That is where I should have started and added “and the Boston Globe helps.” So here is The Barr Foundation and the Boston…