The Boston Globe’s latest “Bold Types” entry sponsored by Koch Industries is out and the phrase “jumped the shark” may need to be retired. The climate denying Koch Brothers paying for a puff piece with the ocean hugging CEO of New England Aquarium? On Tuesday afternoon I scrolled down my phone onto the home page…
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).
Answering that DFER Candidate Questionnaire: Are You for Dark Money, or Are You for Democracy?
Municipal candidates are busy filling out questionnaires from interest groups including one from Democrats for Education Reform Massachusetts. I can help with that one because there’s only one real question: do you stand for dark money in politics, or will you fight for democracy? Dark money is vast sums poured into a front organization from…
The Boston Globe-Barr Foundation Marriage and the Rise of Philanthro-Interest Group Journalism
The announcement last week of the $600,000 grant from the Barr Foundation to the Boston Globe was presented as a public spirited philanthropy offering the Globe the means to research our education system’s failures and report back on how to fix them. It is not. It is the dawn of philanthro-interest group journalism. That’s a…
Masslive Misfires on Editorial on Massachusetts Parents United of Arkansas
Back on June 10 Masslive.com ran an editorial titled Meet the Newest Education Union: Parents which turned out not to be about education or unions at all but about the WalMart-heir front Massachusetts Parents United of Arkansas. Helpful as always I sent an op-ed to Masslive setting the record straight but they paid no attention….
This Week in Philanthropies as Interest Groups
One thing we don’t see often enough in political coverage is the forthright identification of philanthropic non-profits as interest groups. There were some positive signs this week. First, the Boston Globe’s Rhode Island coverage featured Dan McGowan’s story The Providence Mayor Raised Thousands of Dollars for a Nonprofit with Ties to His Campaign, Then he…
Prof. Cunningham’s Testimony on H.3553 An Act requiring major policy makers to disclose donations to entities engaging in political activity
On May 15 it was my privilege to testify before the Joint Committee on Election Laws in favor of H. 3553 An Act requiring major policy makers to disclose donations to entities engaging in political activity, filed by Rep. Marjorie Decker. It would make big bucks state policy makers like Paul Sagan and Mark E….
A Letter to Massachusetts Education Reporters
On May 1 I wrote a letter to several education writers on the topic of why they should be reporting on the financial backing of groups like Massachusetts Parents United or Democrats for Education Reform. Citizens have the right to be informed and only the media can do that. I’m sharing that letter here in…
Massachusetts Parents United: Grassroots or AstroTurf?
One of the claims of Massachusetts Parents United is that it is a grassroots organization dedicated to serving the needs of parents and children. But corporate-sponsored school privatization organizations like MassParents have come and gone, so how can we tell if the group is grassroots or AstroTurf? There’s a way. Professor Daniel Katz used a…
Massachusetts Parents United: Old Wine in an Expensive Bottle
Massachusetts Parents United claims to be “the independent voice of parents.” But it’s entirely dependent on funding from the Walton Family’s (tax deductible) political operations. When I wrote Massachusetts Parents United: Old Wine in an Empty Bottle in July 2017 there were some clues about its funding but not much detail, and what detail there…
Keri Rodrigues Goes Coastal with Plans for National Parents Union
Keri Rodrigues of Massachusetts Parents United, the highly subsidized-by-the-Walton-family front in the education privatization business, is pitching a new organization called the National Parents Union. It’s got elements that should appeal to the WalMart heirs – hidden money, infiltration of the Democratic Party, pro-charters, privatization of public goods, and virulently anti-union. But there are problems….