Conspiracy, or not? You decide.

Remember Arne Duncan’s Race to the Top? That’s the program he picked Joanne Weiss to develop and run which requires states to revise their education laws according to the Broad/Gates template, after which, if the states have gone far enough, they can become eligible to enter the contest for possibly getting some money from Duncan’s pot.

Weiss, by the way, is a businesswoman and the former COO of the NewSchools Venture Fund, an investment vehicle which funnels philanthropic dollars into charter school start-ups. Lots of Eli Broad connections there.

With states being so desperate to get any amount of money, many rushed to change their laws and then applied to RTTT. But, to their disappointment, most states were rejected. Only two states “won” in the first round, Delaware and Tennessee.

In my letter to the editor published in the Oakland Tribune last fall (11/20/2009), I tried to communicate that the massive fundamental bureaucratic alterations this “race” was requiring would mean that a lot of the money would be going to administrative positions rather than to kids and classrooms. In California, State Senator Gloria Romero from LA, who is backed by Eli Broad and pals and is a candidate for State Superintendent, was behind the push for the federally-accommodating laws.

Now we learn that Tennessee, which received $500 million, will be spending at least $46 million for data programs, while bus drivers and custodians are either having their wages cut, or are being laid off. This will make some ed data software business out there happy.

Not only that, but now that many state education laws have been changed, the amount of potential federal prize money has been reduced!

So, after spending of millions of dollars on writing new laws and completing elaborate RTTT applications, which were scored by anonymous judges (!), several states felt bewildered and betrayed, and are now rethinking their interest.

PS: Hope y’all are aware of what’s going on in other places.

In Florida, the profession of teaching is about to be destroyed. Russo posted a sort-of entertaining cartoon about it. Funny, ha, ha.

And in Detroit, former Oakland City Manager Bob Bobb, who went to DC and eventually graduated from the Broad Superintendents Academy, is aggressively closing schools and charterizing Detroit’s public school system. His approach resembles Randy Ward’s (Oakland's Broad Supe #1) on steroids. Bobb’s official salary is $280,000, but he gets an additional $145,000 in private foundation money; the only philanthropic donor publicly identified is the Broad Foundation. Talk about a conflict of interest!

Learn lots more at The Broad Report.

People often dismiss those of us who are concerned about the way in which public education is being dismantled as nutty conspiracy theorists.

Conspire (American Heritage Dictionary): 1. To plan together secretly to commit an illegal or wrongful act or accomplish a legal purpose through illegal action. 2. To join or act together; combine: factors that conspired to delay the project. [Middle English conspiren, from Old French, from Latin cōnspīrāre : com-, com- + spīrāre, to breathe.]

Yes, I do think certain wrongful acts have secretly been generated in the offices, and at social gatherings, of a very small number of wealthy, unelected people who, because of their wealth, have exceptional access to politicians, and who stay TOTALLY-TOTALLY-TOTALLY inaccessible to public questioning or confrontation. They meddle in, and essentially are in control of, public education at very high levels, but keep themselves isolated from the public and seem to be accountable to no one. People like Duncan and Obama are permitting this to happen. I do know that the reforms didn't come from parents, they didn't come from teachers, they didn't come from academia, and they always have strong elements of a move towards privatization.

It’s happening all over, and rapidly now. In March 2009, just after the presidential election, Tom Vander Ark, one of the ed deformers’ favorite PR men, wrote a piece for The Huffington Post entitled, “Eli Finally Won.” It pretty much sums things up. The bold is mine.

Eli Broad paved the way for radical moderates. He was a New Democrat before Clinton. He was a Democrat for Education Reform before there was a DFER.

He figured out long ago that there was a talent gap in education and began investing in human capital. In addition to a great superintendent program, Eli formed a residency to bring MBAs into district cabinets and a training program for school board members. Eli also invested in Teach for America, New Leaders for New Schools, New Teacher Project, and Education Pioneers.

Eli saw the potential for quality at scale in charter schools. He invested in New School Venture Fund. Eli brought KIPP to LA. In post-Katrina New Orleans, Eli saw the potential to rebuild a different and better system and he invested in talent and charter networks.

When I brought the Stand Up advocacy campaign to Eli in 2006, he signed up but was frustrated that it wasn't edgier. He partnered with the Gates Foundation on Strong American Schools and was still frustrated that it didn't push harder in the resulting 'Ed in 08' campaign which tried too hard to build a big tent. And then education was pushed off the agenda by Iraq and the recession.

But yesterday, Eli won. Obama's speech sounded like Eli wrote it. It was about choice and charter schools, human capital and performance pay. It was right on message from pre-school to college. We've never had a Republican president that so clearly articulated a Republican strategy. Only it's the new New Democrat strategy. It's Eli's strategy. He finally won.

You will notice that Eli Broad (rhymes with toad) stays perpetually hidden from public view. He crawls out from under his rock just enough to meet with his puppets and henchmen, and to testify on behalf of his 20-count felony-charged friends.

A 1996 New York Time article, "Wealthy Helped by Wall St., Find New Ways Escape Tax on Profits" reveals Eli Broad's pleasure at winning by pressing as close as possible to the legal edge. A recent New York Times article about Broad describes him as "A billionaire philanthropist whose beneficence comes with not just strings but with ropes that could moor an ocean liner." In that same article, Roland Fryer, one of Broad's education project collaborators explains that, "...Eli will crush you." Incidentally, that project is now on course to become a failure.

Just so you can imagine the locus of the scheme, the Broad Foundation’s offices are located near UCLA in the Westwood district, at 10900 Wilshire Boulevard Twelfth Floor Los Angeles, California 90024 (at the corner of Wilshire and Westwood).

“The Broad Effect”

This is "The Broad Effect": Part One
Read "The Broad Effect": Part Two here.

“The Broad Effect” is behind the recent events in Rhode Island (the Central Falls firings ), and in Detroit, where the Detroit Public School Board has just unanimously voted to file a second lawsuit against Emergency Financial Manager Robert Bobb, saying the extra $145,000 in private foundation support he receives is an unlawful conflict of interest. Bobb's base salary is $280,000. The Detroit News reports:

“Bobb's supplemental income from private foundations increased from $84,000 last year to $145,000 this year, under a one-year contract extension signed by the governor and state superintendent this month. The only philanthropic donor publicly identified is the Broad Foundation, whose support of charter schools has stirred controversy among some members of the DPS community.”

Naturally, Robert Bobb (or Bob Bobb, as he was known in Oakland when served as the City Manager under former Mayor Jerry Brown) is a member of the Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2005.

When the Broad Foundation plants one of its elements in a school district, it is highly likely that another element will be planted along with it, in order to maximize the Effect.

For instance, an element might be:

• The presence of a Broad-trained superintendent
• The placement of Broad Residents into important central office positions
• An "invitation" to participate in a program spawned by the Foundation (such as CRSS's Reform Governance in Action program)
• Offering to provide the district with a free "Performance Management Diagnostic and Planning" experience

The Broad Foundation likes to infiltrate its targets on multiple levels so it can manipulate a wider field and cause the greatest amount of disruption. Venture edu-philanthropists like Gates and Broad proudly call this invasive and destabilizing strategy "investing in a disruptive force."To these billionaires and their henchmen, causing massive disruption for families with school aged children in (disadvantaged) communities (primarily of color) across the nation is no big deal.

“The Broad Effect” has been playing out in Rhode Island, where State Education Commissioner Deborah A. Gist, a 2008 Broad Superintendents Academy graduate, worked in tandem with Frances Gallo, the district’s superintendent, to fire 93 teachers and staff members at Central Falls High School. Learn much more about the whole story here.

The April 2009 press release announcing Gist’s appointment as the new R.I. Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education stated:

“We are thrilled that Rhode Island is the first state to attract a Broad Fellow as not only the superintendent of its largest schools system, with Tom Brady in Providence, but also a Broad Fellow as a State Commissioner who can partner in addressing the challenges of transforming the state's educational systems to a position of international leadership."

As we learn from a March 2005 press release:

“The Mayor [Cicilline of Providence] today met with the School Board Monday night to discuss a plan that installs Fran Gallo as Transition Superintendent and calls for the formation of a search committee by next week. The plan is informed by counsel from the Broad Foundation (pronounced “brode”), a nationally-recognized consultant for superintendent searches.”

And as Providence Public School District eventually acquired Thomas M. Brady (Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2004), he was joined by Sharon Contreras (Broad Superintendents Academy Class of 2010) as his Chief Academic Officer. Gallo took a position at Central Falls, an impoverished community 5.7 miles north of Providence. Read more about the Broad-in-Rhode-Island synergy here.

So now do you understand how it all works?

MORE EVIDENCE OF “THE BROAD EFFECT”

ANTIOCH, CALIFORNIA: Deborah Sims (BSA 2005) was asked to resign. The previous year, their school board had started in the Reform Governance in Action program via the Center for Reform of School Systems (CRSS) which is very heavily funded by Broad. After Sims' exit, the CRSS terminated its ties with the district. It was , "...a blessing in disguise," as one board member stated.

BUFFALO, NEW YORK: This city was targeted early on, now they are land-o-the-charters.

CAPISTRANO, CALIFORNIA: In March 2009, this school district terminated its superintendent, Arnold Woodrow "Woody" Carter (BSA 2002), for material breach.

FRANKLIN COUNTY, OHIO: It seems that Bart G. Anderson (BSA 2006), Superintendent of the Franklin County Board of Education was calling himself “Dr. Bart Anderson” years before he earned a legitimate doctorate degree in 2006. He also got mixed up with a diploma mill called St. Regis University, which issued him a bogus doctorate in 2002.

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA: Joseph Wise (BSA 2003) was given a four-year contract as the superintendent of Duval County Public Schools in the fall of 2005. Twenty-three months later, his spending habits were being questioned. He and the school board parted ways in October 2007, but not before he implemented a controversial reorganization plan. Read local community opinions here. In February 2008, he became the new Chief Education Officer for EdisonLearning. Legal problems persisted even after he left DCPS. Trouble had followed Wise from Delaware, where he had been the superintendent of Christina School District, the largest in Delaware. This is what he's doing now.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: As you would suspect, all sorts of intertwining connections are here. Read this report about Broad taking Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to dinner.

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE: More suckers in Memphis (or are the school district officials just sucking up?). As usual, parents are pissed off but have little idea about what has hit them. As usual, New Leaders for New Schools is right in the midst of things.

OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA: In January 2008, twenty-one allegations of improper behavior were made against John Q. Porter (BSA 2006), who had been serving as the superintendent of OKCPS for only six months (more here). He was suspended and then resigned in March amid accusations of financial mismanagement and poor job performance. Porter's spending habits were questioned during his previous work for Montgomery County Public Schools. I've looked for him online, but he seems to have disappeared. His Wikipedia page was deleted in 2008.

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: In the summer of 2003, Jack O'Connell, the State Superintendent of Instruction (the recipient of a large campaign contribution from Eli Broad), assigned Randolph Ward (BSA 2003) as State Administrator of OUSD. Ward appointed Arnold Woodrow "Woody" Carter (BSA 2002) to be his Chief of Staff (see Capistrano above). Ward's slash-and-burn actions produced so much anger from the community, he hired a full-time body guard. Barak Ben-Gal (Broad Resident 2004-2006) implemented a controversial system called Results Based Budgeting in OUSD, then went into the private sector in Silicon Valley. Kimberly Statham (BSA 2003) hopped from job to job for years and is now at the NewSchools Venture Fund. Statham departed after only one year, and arrangements were made for Vincent Matthews (BSA 2006), who used to work for SF's (now failed) Edison school, to fill the State Administrator position. These three Broad Superintendents within five years left the district in a bigger mess, and in considerably more debt, than in which they had found it. The district regained full control in 2009, but since the district is still in debt to the state, Matthews was assigned as State Trustee.

NEW YORK CITY: Broad Foundation press release states that Broad "played a key role in former U.S. Assistant Attorney General Joel Klein's appointment as New York schools chancellor." And here's Broad schmoozing with another N.Y. billionaire.

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MARYLAND: This troubled school district thought it was finally going to get a long-term superintendent when they hired John Deasy (BSA 2006) in May 2006, but by September 2008 he was being investigated for having improperly received his doctorate. He resigned in short order and went to work for the Gates Foundation. Deasy's replacement was William R. Hite Jr. (BSA 2006) who appointed Bonita Coleman-Potter (BSA 2008) as his deputy superintendent.

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK: Jean-Claude Brizard (BSA 2007) is alienating people there. People are catching on.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON: This group isn't too pleased with Maria Goodloe-Johnson (BSA 2003).

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION: Arne Duncan invited Broad Residents into his department so they can be in control at the the top.

WASHINGTON D.C.: Reporting that Michelle Rhee meets with Broad on a regular basis, including making multiple visits to his Fifth Ave. apartment in NYC.

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE: A 2006 article stated that Broad "plans to virtually take over the Delaware school system in 2007, pending approval from that state's legislature." He backed the winning slate of candidates for the local board of education in 1999 and helped hire the new superintendent. His energy was focused on the Christina School District. Their first Broad superintendent was installed in July 2003 ( see Joseph Wise under Jacksonville above). This is what he's doing now. In April 2006, Wise was succeeded by Lillian Lowery (BSA 2004) who served until May 2009. Lowery walked into her position and shortly discovered a huge district deficit. This is what she's doing now. Her replacement was Marcia Lyles (BSA 2006). This district is home to the incident with six-year old Zachary. His sentence was later reversed.

Note: Not all Broad Superintendents Academy graduates (called Fellows) are included on the Academy's Web site as "Featured Alumni."

This map will show you where the Effect has spread, and will link you to its players. More information is available at The Broad Report. Doing a perfect job of keeping track of “The Broad Effect” would be a full-time job!

I now share with you an excerpt from the Billionaire Boys' Club chapter of Diane Ravitch's book, "The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education":

But the offer of a multimillion-dollar grant by a foundation is enough to cause most superintendents and school boards to drop everything and reorder their priorities.

And so it happened that the Gates, Walton, and Broad foundations came to exercise vast influence over American education because of ther strategic investments in school reform. As their policy goals converged in the first decade of the twenty-first century, these foundations set the policy agenda not only for school districts, but also for states and even the U.S. Department of Education.

Before considering the specific goals and activities of these foundations, it is worth reflecting on the wisdom of allowing education policy to be directed or, one might say, captured by private foundations. There is something fundamentally antidemocratic about relinquishing control of the public education policy agenda to private foundations run by society's weathiest people; when the wealthiest of these foundations are joined in common purpose, they represent an unusually powerful force that is beyond the reach of democratic institutions. These foundations, no matter how worthy and high-minded, are after all, not public agencies. They are not subject to public oversight or review, as a public agency would be . They have taken it upon themselves to reform public education, perhaps in ways that would never survive the scrutiny of voters in any district or state. If voters don't like the foundations' reform agenda, they can't vote them out of office. The foundation demands that public schools and teacher be held accountable for performance, but they themselves are accountable to no one. If their plans fail, no sanctions are levied against them. They are bastions of unaccountable power.

Read more about Eli Broad, the man behind the Broad Effect. Find out what makes him chuckle. Learn why he is described as a “billionaire philanthropist whose beneficence comes with not just strings but with ropes.” My previous postings with additional information are here.

IF YOU HAVE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT “THE BROAD EFFECT” IN YOUR COMMUNITY, AND CAN OFFER ANY LINKS TO THE READERS HERE, PLEASE SHARE THAT INFORMATION IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. THANK YOU.

(The Broad Foundation regularly monitors this blog, both directly and, more recently, via services provided by BurrellesLuce. When it occurs, I post the confirmation in my comments.)

And as eighth-grade students have learned at a public middle school here in Oakland, "Jefferson believed in the People. They can make good decisions when given enough information."