Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many conservatives believe in charter schools. It doesn't necessarily mean they have "ulterior" motives in funding charter schools. They may fund them because they believe -- and in order to prove -- that they work. I'm not at all conservative, but I don't see a problem with this. A city can separately decide whether to allow charters or not; but, once they do, why shouldn't conservatives pony up? Wouldn't it actually be hypocritical if they didn't given that the success of charters often relies on private fundraising?

. . . or they may support privatizing the public sector and undermining teachers unions. Charters are a near perfect vehicle because there is political cover on both sides of the aisle. Even Barack Obama.

And why is there support on both sides? Because in the end, parents just want a decent education for their kid. In present time, not years down the road.

Anonymous wrote:Many conservatives believe in charter schools. It doesn't necessarily mean they have "ulterior" motives in funding charter schools. They may fund them because they believe -- and in order to prove -- that they work. I'm not at all conservative, but I don't see a problem with this. A city can separately decide whether to allow charters or not; but, once they do, why shouldn't conservatives pony up? Wouldn't it actually be hypocritical if they didn't given that the success of charters often relies on private fundraising?

. . . or they may support privatizing the public sector and undermining teachers unions. Charters are a near perfect vehicle because there is political cover on both sides of the aisle. Even Barack Obama.

Many conservatives believe in charter schools. It doesn't necessarily mean they have "ulterior" motives in funding charter schools. They may fund them because they believe -- and in order to prove -- that they work. I'm not at all conservative, but I don't see a problem with this. A city can separately decide whether to allow charters or not; but, once they do, why shouldn't conservatives pony up? Wouldn't it actually be hypocritical if they didn't given that the success of charters often relies on private fundraising?

Anonymous wrote:The Walton Foundation is investing a lot in DC.

Beyond what is mentioned above they donate to:

KIPP,
Education Forward DC (contributes to among others EW Stokes, Bard College High School DC, DC Bilingual, Lee Montessori, Mundo Verde, YY and Washington Latin) http://edforwarddc.org/strategy/grantees/

New Schools Venture Fund - Bard Early College, DCI, Excel Academy, Ingenuity Prep, Mundo Verde, https://www.newschools.org/our-ventures/innovative-schools/

All of this. All of it goes at conservative efforts to privatize public education and there are plenty of Democrats who fell for this and went along with it. See Cory Booker and Beto O'Rourke as examples.

The Walton Foundation is investing a lot in DC.

Beyond what is mentioned above they donate to:

KIPP,
Education Forward DC (contributes to among others EW Stokes, Bard College High School DC, DC Bilingual, Lee Montessori, Mundo Verde, YY and Washington Latin) http://edforwarddc.org/strategy/grantees/

New Schools Venture Fund - Bard Early College, DCI, Excel Academy, Ingenuity Prep, Mundo Verde, https://www.newschools.org/our-ventures/innovative-schools/

Anonymous wrote:The Charter Growth Fund, for example, is the Waltons, plus Eli Broad.

https://chartergrowthfund.org/our-people/funders/

They fund DC Prep, Rocketship, and Washington Leadership

https://chartergrowthfund.org/portfolio/national-fund/

Yu Ying got its building from the Charter School Development Corporation

https://csdc.org/newsresources/recent-updates/ni-hao%2C-mr-president.html

That too is Walton money

https://csdc.org/newsresources/recent-updates/csdc-receives-generous-support-from-the-walton-family-foundation.html

I think the Waltons also underwrite Building Hope, which seems to handle almost all the charter school buildouts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who didn’t know that PAVE has deep pocket supporters? How else could they have paid for their conferences, staff and swag?

Didn’t Walton Foundation also give start up funding to DCI and other charters? Their money is all over the city. It is what the grantees do with the money, not who gives.

Disagree. There are a lot of conservative billionaires and foundations that tie their donations to their political ends. And their political ends are usually their own, not helping poor kids, despite what they might say (put another way: coincidentally, the causes the Koches claim to care deeply about also happen to help them make more money.)

Not all foundations and nonprofits are like this - Gates, Soros, Buffett, Clinton Foundation (don’t @ me, conservatives— they’ve done great public health work to benefit societies) are very visible. But the majority of billionaires spend money on their own conservative interests. That includes the Walton Family Foundations. And yes, charter schools help conservatives achieve their political ends (see eg the speech DeVos’s husband gave at heritage.)

Long story short: the source of the money may well matter, but not always.

That's certainly the reason for the Koch's advocacy for open borders on immigration.

The Charter Growth Fund, for example, is the Waltons, plus Eli Broad.

https://chartergrowthfund.org/our-people/funders/

They fund DC Prep, Rocketship, and Washington Leadership

https://chartergrowthfund.org/portfolio/national-fund/

Yu Ying got its building from the Charter School Development Corporation

https://csdc.org/newsresources/recent-updates/ni-hao%2C-mr-president.html

That too is Walton money

https://csdc.org/newsresources/recent-updates/csdc-receives-generous-support-from-the-walton-family-foundation.html

Anonymous wrote:Who didn’t know that PAVE has deep pocket supporters? How else could they have paid for their conferences, staff and swag?

Didn’t Walton Foundation also give start up funding to DCI and other charters? Their money is all over the city. It is what the grantees do with the money, not who gives.

Disagree. There are a lot of conservative billionaires and foundations that tie their donations to their political ends. And their political ends are usually their own, not helping poor kids, despite what they might say (put another way: coincidentally, the causes the Koches claim to care deeply about also happen to help them make more money.)

Not all foundations and nonprofits are like this - Gates, Soros, Buffett, Clinton Foundation (don’t @ me, conservatives— they’ve done great public health work to benefit societies) are very visible. But the majority of billionaires spend money on their own conservative interests. That includes the Walton Family Foundations. And yes, charter schools help conservatives achieve their political ends (see eg the speech DeVos’s husband gave at heritage.)

Long story short: the source of the money may well matter, but not always.

OP you’re jumping in like at like 2 minutes from the end of the game here.

FWIW - the original RFP was open to charter operators AND DCPS. DCPS opted not to respond. You can see the white paper and all associated documents at www.ward8post.org

Anonymous wrote:What is up with this, how did this self-appointed group get to "recommend" a charter to compete with Leckie ES?

https://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/stories/k-12-education/amplifying-parent-voice-in-education-and-community

This group and others partnered with DOD to create this charter to primarily serve military families.

Who didn’t know that PAVE has deep pocket supporters? How else could they have paid for their conferences, staff and swag?

Didn’t Walton Foundation also give start up funding to DCI and other charters? Their money is all over the city. It is what the grantees do with the money, not who gives.

The linked article does not back up your account.

What is up with this, how did this self-appointed group get to "recommend" a charter to compete with Leckie ES?

https://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/stories/k-12-education/amplifying-parent-voice-in-education-and-community