I noticed in the Sunday Globe that Governor Baker has proclaimed this “School Choice Week” and I thought, what better time than School Privatization Week to re-up some of my favorite dark money and the politics of school privatization posts? Today’s classic is on that notable progressive Charles Koch sinking money into National Parents Union….
School Privatization Week: Keri Rodrigues Goes Coastal with Plans for National Parents Union
I noticed in the Sunday Globe that Governor Baker has proclaimed this “School Choice Week” and I thought, what better time than School Privatization Week to re-up some of my favorite dark money and the politics of school privatization posts? Here’s a piece on the “concept paper” submitted to the Walton Family Foundation by National…
School Privatization Week: Massachusetts Parents Union, Old Wine in an Empty Bottle
I noticed in the Sunday Globe that Governor Baker has proclaimed this “School Choice Week” and I thought, what better time than School Privatization Week to re-up some of my favorite dark money and the politics of school privatization posts? One of my inferences was wrong—SGP. But I do have a favorite quote that captures…
School Privatization Week: The Walton Family’s Massachusetts Political Team 2019
I noticed in the Sunday Globe that Governor Baker has proclaimed this “School Choice Week” and I thought, what better time than School Privatization Week to re-up some of my favorite dark money and the politics of school privatization posts? Today let’s take another look at this one from 2019, The Walton Family’s Massachusetts Political…
School Privatization Week: New Campaign Song for Great Schools Massachusetts: ‘It’s Up to You, New York, New York
I noticed in the Sunday Globe that Governor Baker has proclaimed this “School Choice Week” and I thought, what better time than School Privatization Week to re-up some of my favorite dark money and the politics of school privatization posts? Let’s kick off the celebration with an early one but still one of my favorites:…
2021: Closing with Hopeful and Not-so-hopeful Signs
As 2021 closes three recent political developments reveal truths we are not always privileged to see: coverage of the death of philanthropist Jerome Rappaport; Republican gubernatorial candidate Geoff Diehl turning a blind eye to racist attacks against Boston mayor Michelle Wu; and more accurate descriptions of privatization fronts like billionaire funded National Parents Union. Rappaport…
MA Lieutenant Governors: Reputation v. Reality
It seems that Matt Stout’s recent Globe article about the 2022 Lieutenant Governor’s race has revived some perennial critiques the Office of the Lieutenant Governor. For example, Globe columnist Adrian Walker and Northeastern Journalism prof Dan Kennedy, two keen analysts of Massachusetts politics, were both moved by Stout’s piece to announce their low opinions of…
Gift Giving Pressure Is On. The Answer Is . . . Books
Two years into this misery just heightens the need for great gift giving. No longer can we get away with a set of hair rollers for her or “a Craftsman model 1019 Laboratory edition, signature series torque wrench” for him. No. We need something that says L-O-V-E. We need books. We pause for a commercial…
Possible Criminality in Ballot Question Signature Gathering? I Am Shocked, Shocked.
Jon Chesto of the Boston Globe just posted a remarkable piece on the ballot question process in Massachusetts, Norfolk DA probing signature fraud on business-backed Uber/Lyft referendum. It helps illustrate how the ballot measure process, trumpeted as a means for the citizens to pass policy over the objections of the legislature, has become a plaything…
Newton Schools Racist Messages: Be Shocked, Not Surprised. It’s Deliberate.
On Friday Travis Anderson of the Boston Globe reported that two Black principals in Newton had received “racist and confrontational” messages for doing their jobs: to help their students process the verdicts in the Kyle Rittenhouse and Tracy McMichael, Gregory McMichael, and William Bryan Jr. (murderers of Ahmaud Arbery) trials. The hate came rolling in…