Revealing Campbell Brown and "The Seventy Four" Bogus Ed Journalism Site, Funders Linked to Chalkbeat and Edweek

The Seventy Four and the takeover of America's schools

“Our public education system is in crisis” warns the Seventy Four in its mission statement, echoing the refrain of billionaire school privatizers over the last decade plus. It’s evidence that Brown’s latest venture is dedicated to pushing what has become known as the “awfulizing narrative” that America’s schools are broken beyond repair; that teachers, unions and locally elected school boards are to blame; and that the only way to fix our education problem is by dumping one of America’s oldest democratic institutions—public schools—in favor of a market-driven system.

After Brown announced the Seventy Four was coming and the site’s backers were named, numerous education watchers wondered aloud whether an education news website underwritten by a collective that has poured billions into school privatization would even attempt to offer impartial journalism..... Kali Holloway http://www.alternet.org/education/campbell-brown-new-leader-propaganda-arm-school-privatization

A few weeks ago the morning Chalkbeat linked to 2 articles on the Campbell Brown run "The Seventy Four" without any disclaimer. I wrote about it: Chalkbeat Treats Campbell Brown Led Ed Deform Site as Legit News Source.  After reading that my old ICE pal Julie Woodward sent me the Alternet piece which mentions Chalkbeat as being funded by these same sources. Of course they will say Randi and the AFT also gives them money -- just a different version of ed deformer.

But why should those who read Chalkbeat's carefully calibrated coverage to give the impression of journalism be surprised?

Alternet's in-depth piece linking the ed deform funders to control of the press. Follow the money as one wise sage once said.

It’s not just Brown, though. A look at the back end of education media reveals plenty of outlets that are funded by those seeking to displace public schools in favor of a market-driven system. Media Bullpen, published by Walton grantee Center for Education Reform, bills itself as an education “media watchdog,” and receives funds from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, the Walton family and the Gates Foundation. (The Columbia Journalism Review notes a managing editor job ad explicitly sought a “passionate advocate for education reform.”)  Education Post, “a nonprofit, nonpartisan communications organization,” launched with promises to promote “an honest and civil [education] conversation,” as well as $12 million in startup funds provided in part by “the Broad Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies [and] the Walton Family Foundation.” (Per the Washington Post, the site’s three areas of focus are “K-12 academic standards, high-quality charter schools and how best to hold teachers and schools accountable for educating students,” the Holy Trinity of education reform.) Brown’s Seventy-Four, it turns out, is just another holding in the portfolio of the education reform lobby.

Not every group is so nakedly apparent in its goals. Well-respected education blogs including Chalkbeat and Education Week both receive funds from the Walton Family Foundation (in the latter case, specifically for “coverage of school choice and parent-empowerment issues,” a long-winded way of saying pro-charter pieces.) The 3,000-strong Education Writers Association receives money from Gates and Walton, while the L.A. Times—which maintains that it retains editorial control—receives funds from Broad for its Education Matters Digital initiative.

Even the so-called non-bought off press - like the tabloids and even the NY Times coming down on ed deform -finds all kinds of ways to support ed deform. See that awful April 2 Kate Taylor piece on opt out where she went to a school in Chinatown of all places to find the least likely parents to opt out - and include Eva quotes too (Kate making amends for being attacked by Eva for her devastating stories?). -- Despite Protests on State Testing, Some New York City Parents Are Happy to Opt In

The Alternet piece lists more funded ops:

As mentioned above, the Walton foundation provides money to an unexpected list of progressive entities. As Inside Philanthropy puts it “[i]t's heartening to see philanthropy coming to the rescue of journalism. But the trend is also problematic...Nowhere is the influence of private money over public life more pronounced than in K-12 education and yet, as it turns out, the specialized media most likely to raise questions about the trend are themselves supported by foundations.”
We haven’t even gotten to various other media campaigns guided by the invisible hand of school privatizers and built on a foundation of billionaire corporate reform stacks. Gates and Broad both underwrote the multi-year “Education Nation” broadcasting initiative, which brought education-focused programming to NBC staples “such as ‘Nightly News’ and ‘Today’ and on the MSNBC, CNBC and Telemundo TV network.” The Walton Family Foundation reportedly provided the cash for Chicago Public Schools to purchase ad space for videos to spin the closures of 50 traditional public school even as charters increased in the city.

 The entire piece is below the fold or at: http://www.alternet.org/education/campbell-brown-new-leader-propaganda-arm-school-privatization

Today: Protest Campbell Brown on Colbert Show - 4:15

I'm glad they are doing this, though I have no doubt Colbert will have some fun with Brown. You know, I watched Brown when she was (briefly) on the Today show - and she made me cringe with her humorlessness and cluelessness. They couldn't wait to get rid of her.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Julian Vinocur, julian@aqeny.org, 212-328-9268
Maria Bautista, maria@aqeny.org, 347-622-9706

*** Media Advisory for July 31st, 4:15pm, Outside Colbert Report Studio Taping 513 West 54th St.***

Parents and Teachers to Protest Campbell Brown's Appearance On Colbert Report

Growing Outrage Over Brown's Refusal to Disclose Wall Street Backers, While Proclaiming to Speak for Parents

WHAT: On the heels of Campbell Brown filing a bogus lawsuit attacking teachers, public school parents and teachers will protest her appearance outside tonight's taping of the Colbert Report.

Parents and teachers will expose the Real Campbell Brown: a right-wing, out-of-touch elitist, with no background in education who is running a political campaign funded by Wall Street donors.

Participants will be tweeting from #WhoFundsCampbell & #Questions4Campbell

WHO: Parents and teachers, members of the Alliance for Quality Education and New York Communities for Change.

WHERE: Outside Colbert Report studio on 513 West 54th St, NY, NY (between 54th st. and 10th ave.).

WHEN: Today, at 4:15pm. Thursday, July 31st, 2014.

# # #

Dissecting Moaning Mona Davids

Moaning Mona Davids has switched sides more times than a tennis ball.... and burned more bridges than the retreating German army..... Ed Notes

Local 372 President Santos Crespo Jr. fired [Mona] Davids in December, then sued her in January, claiming she failed to turn over passwords to databases containing confidential information about the union’s members and its contacts.... NY Post, Feb. 10, 2014

Just 3 years ago Mona Davids supported and took part in a film that took a strong pro-tenure stand for teachers. She even paid for and set up the web site for that film but destroyed the site when she decided to switch sides (once again) in an attempt to cover her tracks.... Ed Notes

Mona Davids is a virus... Anonymous teacher

The news that self-serving Moaning Mona Davids, hoping  to get a piece of the hedge fund ed deform anti-tenure action, has filed a Vergara copycat suit over teacher tenure, has spurred me to dredge up this blog post that's been lurking in draft mode for many months. I hadn't bothered  because the idea that anyone actually takes Moaning Mona Davids seriously causes me constant amusement as to just how naive so many people are. Her press release regarding the suit is laugh out loud reading.

I'd like to see if this law suit has any real financial backing. Mona may just be trolling, knowing full well there will be a well-financed suit coming. Her hope is to get her pitiful attempt combined with others. If you had a choice between Moaning Mona Davids and Crappy Campbell Brown, both desperate to use the teacher bashing issue in an attempt to remain relevant, who would you choose? Hmmmmm.  Let's see if there are any ed deform funders out there will to take a chance on venturing forth into a Moaning Mona minefield loaded with IEDs. Today's NY Times piece indicates that this is a trolling law suit looking for publicity.

Education reform groups, some of them supported by Wall Street philanthropists, are expected to support a wave of Vergara-inspired suits. Ms. Davids contended that her suit was different because it was not being bankrolled by outside interests.

However, Ms. Davids said she expected that if multiple cases were to be filed, they would eventually be lumped together by the courts.

Sure, not bankrolled by outside interests because they are too smart to get involved in Moaning Mona's shenanigans. Her main hope is to have hers combined with the heavy hitters and pick up a few crumbs on the way.

About a year ago I also laughed myself silly when I heard DC 37 Local 372 had stepped in it by hiring Mona Davids, who we nicknamed "Moaning Mona" after she made anti-teacher racially tinged comments at various meetings in 2009 - before seemingly switching sides. But more on all that in future posts.

Self-serving Moaning Mona Davids as Local 372 Political Director -- to help stop Anthony Weiner's mayoralty campaign? Really, Comedy Central material.

I was tempted to post some of my Mona files at the time, but, knowing there would be some delicious stuff to come - that Mona would find a way to alienate everyone, I decided to sit back and watch things play out. And so they did. I don't want to call Local 372 leader Santos Crespo dumb for even letting Mona anywhere near the union's confidential information. But.... anyone who shares a password with Moaning Mona should be examined by a doctor.

“Davids exhibited an attitude of spite, anger and refusal to follow directions,” Crespo said in a court affidavit. In papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court, Crespo also suggested Davids engaged in “commercial piracy” by refusing to hand over passwords linking to the union’s proprietary databases.... NY Post

I'm shocked, just shocked that the always self-serving Moaning Mona Davids would engage in such activities. Concerns about parents and children are in the back of her plate. In fact, not even on the plate.

The entire NY Post article below the break.

Oh, if anyone has time on their hands, go check the financials of the NYC Parents Union --

And a blast from the past featuring Moaning Mona:

...https://groups.yahoo.com/group/nyceducationnews/message/17324 Oct 23, 2009 -

I'm posting a letter from a teacher at the Patrick Daly School (PS 15) in Red Hook, Brooklyn to "Moaning" Mona Davids, self-proclaimed ...

Newark Schools for Sale: Cami Anderson, Cerf Keep Turnaround Board Member Campbell Brown Under the Sheets

Turnaround has refused to provide information about its failed foray into Orange schools. Now, Turnaround For Children is interviewing schools in Newark for September. What is Turnaround and what is its proposed role in Newark? The best source for information would be Turnaround, right? Wrong. ...Newark Schools for Sale

Ted Cohen sent this follow-up report after his last post here (Newark Confidential - Turnaround Children Inc. Tr...) on secrecy laden Turnaround Schools move into the Newark schools as a "reward" for failing. Slimebucket Campbell Brown is on their board.

He posted at http://newarkschoolsforsale.wordpress.com/

Turnaround Children, Campbell Brown: kissin’ cousins?

Posted on July 20, 2013 by newarkschool

 

By Ted Cohen

The top school official in a major American city as part of an education-reform initiative is bringing in yet another nonprofit foundation, yet as little is known about Turnaround for Children Inc. as is known about how it fits into Supt. Cami Anderson’s plan to modernize Newark, New Jersey’s schools.

Anderson refuses to respond to open requests for information, and Turnaround officials  - where the secretive ex-newsie Campbell Brown sleeps on the board (http://gawker.com/5936190/campbell-brown-is-incapable-of-understanding-the-concept-of-disclosure) – are equally evasive.

Brown’s lackings also caught the sharp eye of Karoli Kuns. (http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/campbell-brown-crawls-out-under-her-rock-sl)

Attempts to contact New Jersey Education Commissioner Chris Cerf have been met with similar silence.

As a longtime newspaper reporter, I find transparency hard to come by. Nonprofits should make transparency their middle name.

In fact, Guidestar.org is helping promote transparency, announcing recently its intent to “encourage nonprofit transparency on a national scale.”

A bit of history: Anderson arrived in New Jersey’s largest school district  in 2011. She brought with her an education-reform movement. The city’s public schools are among the lowest-performing in the state, even after the state government took over their management in 1995.

Although the school district continues to struggle with low high school-graduation rates and low standardized-test scores, the mayor of Newark, Cory Booker, insists, “Newark, New Jersey can become one of the first American cities to solve the crisis in public education.”This vision for better school district is also shared by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who made a $100 million donation to Newark Public Schools in 2010.

HuffPost’s Joy Resmovits called Newark  “a national test case for the fixing of troubled urban schools and the use of major philanthropic dollars in an educational system.”

Now, Turnaround For Children is interviewing schools in Newark for September. What is Turnaround and what is its proposed role in Newark? The best source for information would be Turnaround, right?

Wrong.

Turnaround has refused to provide information about its failed foray into Orange schools and whether that experience foretells problems in Newark. That’s not the way to run a nonprofit. Obfuscation begets journalistic cynicism – and scrutiny.

Turnaround’s entry into the reform movement began with Orange, N.J., as well as New York City and Washington, D.C. But as soon as the Orange effort began, it failed, according to Turnaround’s nonprofit filing with the Internal Revenue Service.

Tax documents filed with the IRS by Turnaround – accessible through Guidestar.org – disclose the program’s unexpected suspension. The documents, a public record, also reveal that Turnaround was forced to return the remaining part of the grant that funded the program.

“Management decided to terminate its three-school program earlier than planned,” Turnaround officials told the IRS. In their IRS filing, Turnaround officials blamed the short-lived program’s demise on what they vaguely described as a “shift in organizational priorities.”

But officials failed to disclose what they meant by the change or who instigated it.

Turnaround officials say they suspended their request for the remaining funding they were to receive for the Orange project, but they made no mention of the amount of funding they had already received and the amount they were still due.

Turnaround officials issued a prepared statement defending their Orange pullout. “Our hope was to expand the partnership, to deliver a significant amount of professional development to teachers and to increase our engagement district-wide,” said Kate Felsen, vice president of communications. “Unfortunately, Orange Public Schools did not have the capacity to take on the professional development we had to offer during the 2011-12 year. For this reason, we ended our partnership amicably.”

Though Turnaround proudly announced the Orange project in its September 2010 newsletter, there is no evidence on the organization’s web site that Turnaround officials ever notified the public of the program’s suspension.
If Orange school officials are to blame for Turnaround’s failure in their schools, then they are apparently taking the accusations in stride. Orange Supt. Ronald Lee refused to respond to questions. He submitted a statement finally after receiving a formal open-records request.

He said, “Turnaround proposed to expand its program to a transformational model that encompassed academic, foundational and behavioral elements in the 2011-2012 school year. At the same time, the district was continuing or launching a number of significant initiatives to improve instruction and student outcomes. We mutually concluded that the district’s initiatives would require and deserved the full focus of the district staff, principals and teachers. Therefore, we discontinued the program in Orange at that time to allow these innovations to take hold.”

Felsen, too, will not go beyond her prepared statement. When asked who funded the Orange effort and who will be funding the Newark plan, Felsen replied, “You have my statement.”

More to the point, attempts by journalists to procure information from this so-called “transparent” group – as described by GuideStar.org – have been met with silence, stalling and arrogance.

To garner and cultivate pubic support, i.e., more dollars, nonprofits need to be open, accessible. Not hiding. What language do they understand – “lawsuit?”

Ted Cohen of Maine is a veteran newspaper and radio reporter who follows trending national issues. He can be reached at tedcohen@hotmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Tedcohen1.

Failed Journalist Campbell Brown Joins StudentLast on the Dark Side

StudentFirstLastNY Slimebags ignore real sexual abuse of children by one of their own: 

Michelle Rhee husband Kevin Johnson was also under investigation for inappropriate sexual conduct with a 16-year old student at the school.

Brown and Romney Advisor Senor - She throws the bull

UPDATE: See NYC EYE for great summary:

Will Campbell Brown Play Even with Alleged Perv Kevin (Mr. Rhee) Johnson? & Haimson Scoops StudentsFirst Link

Leonie reports: 

Campbell Brown was the first witness chosen to testify at the Cuomo Commission hearings last week, all about how the UFT protects sex abusers.  She repeated the same claims in the WSJ a few days later.  

Bloomberg & Students1st NY (which essentially works for him, under the direction of Micah Lasher) are pushing a bill in the legislature, S.7497,  that would allow him to fire any teacher accused of abuse, no matter what the arbitrator decided.

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Brown’s husband Dan Senor, a senior Romney advisor, is also on the board of Students1st. There is more on this here  and here – including about how Michelle Rhee’s own husband, Kevin Johnson has been accused of sexually molesting a minor under his supervision.

Crooks and Liars reports:

But Campbell Brown opened up Pandora's box, so let's just go ahead and lay it out there.
Michelle Rhee's husband Kevin Johnson was under federal investigation in 2009 for misuse of funds connected with his charter school, St. Hope Academy. This was a big right-wing story at the time, but mostly underreported by mainstream press or the left, because the Obama administration fired the OIG in charge of the investigation shortly after his report was issued. The timing gave rise to a shrill whine from the right wingers about cronyism, etc, while they ignored the actual report about Johnson's malfeasance. Here's a snippet of the letter from Chuck Grassley wrote concerning the investigation:

In September 2008, after reviewing the facts that the OIG investigation presented, the Corporation’s Debarment and Suspension Official (Official) determined that the grantee’s two principals, Kevin Johnson and Dana Gonzalez were responsible for six acts of diverting grant funds to non-grant purposes, and found that “immediate action is necessary to protect the public interest.”
In total about $850,000 was misused. As a result, the OIG requested that the Official suspend all future Federal grant funding to both St. HOPE Academy and Kevin Johnson and Dana Gonzales individually. The Official ultimately suspended St. HOPE Academy and its principals “from participating in Federal procurement and non procurement programs and activities.” None of the respondents exercised their right to submit facts objecting to the suspension.

What Grassley does not mention in his letter is that Kevin Johnson was also under investigation for inappropriate sexual conduct with a 16-year old student at the school. Skip to page 26 of the report below to read the specifics.

Here is the Students1st NY email blast sent out today:

We need your help, right now, to speak out against sexual misconduct in our school — and against sexism in the education debate.

On Monday, Emmy Award-winning journalist Campbell Brown — who previously served as White House Correspondent for NBC and as an anchor for CNN — wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal about how New York law, supported by the teacher’s union, keeps sexual predators in the classroom.

Last night, the union responded — by attacking Campbell’s husband (who, among other things, serves on our Board).

National teachers union president Randi Weingarten took to Twitter and started republishing comments about Campbell’s “hubby” and his political views — as if Campbell’s accomplishments and perspective on this issue didn’t count. This morning, many of Ms. Weingarten’s colleagues have pursued the same line of attack.

Will you help us send a message that sexual misconduct has no place in our schools, and that sexism has no place in this debate?

Click here to speak out on Twitter. Tell Ms. Weingarten that she should focus more on protecting kids and less on sexist spin. Please use #protectourkids.

Of course, the union is looking for anything to distract from the issue at hand: that the union fights tooth-and-nail against giving school districts the authority to terminate anyone who engages in sexual misconduct.

Hopefully, if enough people speak out, we can convince the teachers union to put down the poison pen (and keyboard) and join us in trying to do something about this issue.

Click here to make your voice heard. Urge the union to put students first.

Chandra M. Hayslett
Director of Communications
StudentsFirstNY
http://twitter.com/StudentsFirstNY

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The opinions expressed on EdNotesOnline are solely those of Norm Scott and are not to be taken as official positions (though Unity Caucus/New Action slugs will try to paint them that way) of any of the groups or organizations Norm works with: ICE, GEM, MORE, Change the Stakes, NYCORE, FIRST Lego League NYC, Rockaway Theatre Co., Active Aging, The Wave, Aliens on Earth, etc.