by James C. Sherlock
A commenter hiding behind the screen name “democracy” crawled out from under some rock to excoriate distinguished public servants and a philanthropic organization as “a right wing group that despises public education.”
That comment is now removed. I expect Jim Bacon did it. But it was there too long to let it go without rebuttal.
“Democracy” called them out because, apparently, they have spent considerable portions of their adult lives working to improve public education. In ways with which he or she did not agree.
Indeed. Let’s see.
Jeb Bush. Jeb Bush has been criticized by some on the right as not being sufficiently conservative, as he supports positions on immigration and Common Core that are unpopular with some conservatives.
At the age of 17, Bush taught English as a second language and assisted in the building of a school in Ibarrilla, a small village outside of León, Guanajuato, Mexico. While there, he met his future wife, Columba Garnica Gallo.
In October 2013, he called for passage of immigration reform. In April 2014, he said of illegal immigration:
It’s an act of love. It’s an act of commitment to your family. I honestly think that that is a different kind of crime. There should be a price paid, but it shouldn’t rile people up that people are actually coming to this country to provide for their families.
He has publicly criticized the national Republican party from the center.
Clearly a right winger.
Eric Cantor. Cantor, from Richmond, graduated from Collegiate School, George Washington University and William and Mary Law School. Mr. Cantor rose to be the House Majority Leader.
In Congress he was a Reaganite supply-sider on taxes and growth. He lost in a primary to a challenger from his political right.
He moved from Congress to become vice chairman and managing director of investment bank Moelis & Company. He served on the U.S. Department of Defense Policy Board, a group tasked with providing the Secretary of Defense with independent, informed advice and opinion concerning matters of defense policy.
He has been named a visiting fellow at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Another right wing extremist.
Joel Klein. Mr. Klein served in the White House Counsel’s office under President Bill Clinton, before being appointed to the United States Department of Justice. There, he was appointed United States Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division.
Mayor Bloomberg appointed Mr. Klein chancellor of New York City’s schools. As but one example, in 2007, he launched a major redesign of the formula used to fund schools.
Previously, funding for teachers had been based on the salaries of the teachers in the building, leading to more funding for schools in schools with students from more affluent backgrounds, as teachers tended to stay at those schools longer (and be relatively better paid than teachers with less experience).
Under Klein’s “Fair Student Funding” program, schools were given amounts of money based on the enrollment and demographics of students, such as special education and low-income. This eventually accounted for 66% of all funding to schools.
A Clintonite. All of them were known right wingers.
Christopher Cerf. Mr. Cerf clearly stumbled through Columbia Law School, finishing as as Editor-in-Chief of the Columbia Law Review.
He worked for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, clerked for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and was associate counsel to President Clinton. He later served on the advisory board of iCivics, an education non-profit founded by O’Connor.
He was Joel Klein’s right hand man in New York City Schools Chancellor’s office.
As Superintendent of Newark Schools, Wikipedia relates that
Cerf closed the worst schools, fired the worst principals, and used a new contract to pay the best teachers more. By the end of his tenure as superintendent, the graduation rate had risen to 77 percent, a 20 percent increase. He was able to improve students’ results in state standardized tests and increase the graduation rate while maintaining a balanced budget.
NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Sandra Day O’Connor and Clinton again.
Does it get any more right wing than that?
Eli Broad, who passed away in 2021, was one of the greatest philanthropists in American history. The Broad Foundation continues his work. See that foundation’s flagship initiatives.
The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation…
is a philanthropy that seeks to ensure that every student in an urban public school has the opportunity to succeed. Bringing together top education experts and practitioners, the foundation funds system-wide programs and policies that strengthen public schools by creating environments that allow good teachers to do great work and enable students of all backgrounds to learn and thrive. The foundation has make $750 million in grants towards those goals.
See the notorious right wing journal Education Week for the contributions of Eli Broad and the Broad Foundation.
Broad personally invested tens of millions in expanding Los Angeles’ charter schools, particularly schools with a college prep-focus that serve predominately low-income, minority students.
A billion dollars of his own money to help minority students in public schools. Clearly some plot.
Eva Moskowitz. I am surprised that he did not include Eva Moskowitz, the founder and head of Success Academy in his “right wing group that hates public education.” Must have slipped his mind.
She is a Democrat with a Ph.D. in American history from Johns Hopkins. Ms. Moskowitz distinguished herself in her early career as an historian of the feminist movement. She taught women’s history at the University of Virginia as a visiting professor of communications and mass culture, 1989 – 1990.
She served on New York City Council from 1999 until 2006, where she was Chair of the City Council Education Committee. She was an ally of Joel Klein and exposed in public hearings the outrageous work rules of the teachers.
The United Federation of Teachers, New York’s union, despises her. As of course does Randi Weingarten, who Ms. Moskowitz directly challenged at the hearings. It’s a hell of a story.
Ms. Moskowitz is also Jewish, as are many Success Academy board members and donors.
Right wingers all.
Bottom line. You may detect two common characteristics of these people.
First, they are distinguished public servants who didn’t need the work. Recall from Shakespeare’s Mark Antony speaking after Caesar’s assassination. Perhaps we can fairly note that “democracy” says they form a “right wing group that hates public education” doesn’t rise to that level.
Second, we note the demonstrable trend among “democracy’s” cabal of public education haters to be Jewish Democrats.
Apparently it just worked out that way.
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