Legion of Doom

Lex Luthor meets Catwoman:

The New Brunswick-based school reform group Better Education for Kids announced today it partnered with StudentsFirst, a national nonprofit started by former Washington D.C. School Chancellor Michelle Rhee, which supports expanding charter schools and merit-based pay for teachers.

Begun in March by two New Jersey financiers, Better Education for Kids has promoted teacher evaluations based on student test scores and restrictions on tenure. It has praised Gov. Chris Christie’s school reform efforts, and has raised the ire of the New Jersey Education Association, which mounted an expensive campaign last year attacking the governor’s state aid cuts.

A NJEA spokesman said the new partnership is one of many an anti-union movements working to end teacher tenure to save money.

The collaboration between the two nonprofit groups immediately gives Better Education for Kids a greater voice in the school reform movement, said Derrell Bradford, the group’s executive director, in a telephone interview.

Bradford said the partnership "should help us fund raise and work on reform in the most productive way possible." He said the two groups will work on "grassroots organizing and political activities in the fall, supporting reform candidates running for election." [emphasis mine]

Oh, I have no doubt it'll help fill both of your coffers, Derrell. Maybe your funder Dave Tepper puts down his brass balls for a minute and writes St. Rhee a nice little check. Maybe Michelle of Arc gets Rupert Murdoch to send some greenbacks your way. Everybody scratches each others' backs; everybody wins. Except teachers. And kids.

Here's a new rule: we know that teachers' dues fund unions. We should know who is funding all of Michelle's and Derrell's schemes. Every donation to B4K and Students First - and, for that matter, Stand for Children and all the other corporate "reform" types - over $1000 should be listed immediately on your websites, with names and dollar amounts given.

Further: NJEA's PAC just made their endorsements for the NJ legislative races, so we can assume we know who will get money from them. B4K should announce their endorsements as well - immediately.

Who could possibly object to that?