Teach for America Makes a Play for Suburban Minneapolis School Board Seats

November 2, 2015

Interesting.

Image result for arthur rock
Has Arthur Rock ever been to Richfield?

That’s one word to describe the campaign finance report for Teach for America–Twin Cities employee Crystal Brakke. Brakke is one of nine candidates gunning for three open seats on the Richfield, Minnesota school board, and if she wins, she will have heavy hitters like venture capitalist and TFA board member Arthur Rock to thank. 

The last time Minnesotans heard from Rock, it was 2014, when the California billionaire threw his monetary weight into the Minneapolis school board race. In that race, Rock gave $90,000 to the so-called “Minneapolis Progressive Education Fund,” which was headed up by Brakke’s fellow TFA alum, Daniel Sellers

Sellers’ Fund fell under the weight of some bad press, thanks to a bout of very negative ads the Fund spewed out, mostly to attack then-incumbent candidate Rebecca Gagnon. The Fund, along with Rock’s money, was part of a gigantic pot of money–over $250,000–from out-of-state education reform players.

In 2014, the free-flowing money from the likes of Rock, Michael Bloomberg, and charter school champion and Oxycontin heir Jonathan Sackler was not enough to tip Minneapolis’ board into a solidly pro-reform camp. One candidate whose campaign benefited from the money, Don Samuels, won, while the other candidate, Iris Altamirano, did not.

Now, the big money is back, for a very local school board race, and TFA is the tie that binds all of this together.

TFA’s rise as a “political powerhouse” is no secret, nationally, but the group’s investment in a suburban Minneapolis school board race might come as a shock to Richfield residents.

Richfield, with a population just over 36, 000, is an aging first-ring suburb on the southern tip of Minneapolis. The city’s public schools serve just over 4,000 students, and a slight majority of those students are Latino (white students are the other majority group). Over two-thirds of Richfield students qualify for Free and Reduced Lunch status, indicating they are low-income, and over one-third are identified as English Language Learners. And, 17 percent qualify for special ed services. In other words, Richfield is probably the perfect place to push some crisis-fueled “reform” strategies.

For comparison purposes, the suburb just west of Richfield is Edina. Edina serves twice as many students, at just over 8,000, and almost 80 percent of those students are white. Asian students make up 10 percent of Edina’s student population, while just 4 percent are Latinos. The poverty rate for Edina is 8 percent, the number of ELL kids is 4 percent, and 9 percent of the students require special ed services. (Just under 50, 000 people live in Edina.)

Teach for America does not appear to be moving in to Edina.

Instead, in an off-year for Minneapolis, where the next school board election will take place in 2016, Richfield has suddenly become the new showcase for TFA’s political and financial muscle. 

Here’s how TFA is helping Brakke, whose campaign had over $5, 000 on hand as of October 23, 2015:

  • Arthur Rock gave $577.48 to Brakke’s campaign on October 15, 2015, perhaps for a last-minute push.
  • New Yorker Michael Buman also gave Brakke’s campaign just under $580.00 in October. Buman is the Executive Director of Leadership for Educational Equity, or LEE. LEE is TFA’s policy arm, started in 2007 to provide resources and support to TFAers willing and able to run for office. From a 2012 American Prospect article about LEE: “If all goes as planned, LEE could shift control over American education reform to a specific group of spritely college grads-turned-politicians with a very specific politics.”
  • TFA’s “Vice President for Individual Giving,” Jennifer Mayer-Sandoval, from California, gave money. Is that what led TFA associates from Georgia, Indiana, and Washington to also lend their support? 
  • TFA off-shoot Educators for Excellence also appears on the report, as does Alvin Abraham, Executive Director of “KIPP Minnesota” and fellow TFA alum.
  • Fellow TFA alum and one-time Minneapolis school board candidate Andrew Minck is Brakke’s campaign manager. Minck, who is still employed by Teach for America as some sort of recruiter, also donated $300 to Brakke’s campaign.
  • Only two of the forty-six contributors list Richfield as their home address.

To Brakke’s credit, she has been a Richfield resident for years. And, she’s not in this alone. Another fellow TFA alum, Paula Cole, is also running for a spot on Richfield’s school board.

Cole, who is also a member of Educators for Excellence in Minnesota, is still a classroom teacher in Minneapolis. Her campaign finance report is not nearly as long as Brakke’s, but it does show that both Arthur Rock and Michael Buman donated $600 each to her campaign war chest.

Alex Johnston
Alex Johnston

Cole and Brakke also received financial help from one innocuous sounding guy, Alex Johnston, of Connecticut.

Turns out Johnston is a big player in the tightly knit education reform support network. As a board member of “PIE,” or the Policy Innovations in Education group, “Alex…develops and implements strategies for philanthropists on education reform advocacy and political initiatives.” Johnston also was the CEO of ConnCAN, which is part of the hedge fund driven 50CAN network.

What is a nice guy like Johnston doing throwing money at a little suburban Minneapolis school board race, anyway?

And, what will Richfield voters be agreeing to by voting for Brakke or Cole, or both of them?

Campaign finance reports for both candidates can be found on the Richfield Public Schools website.

Election day is Tuesday, November 3.

Extra! Extra! Readers’ Guide:

  • “Silence of the Teachers:” Educators for Excellence (E4E) explained
  • NPR report: “2 Teach for America Alums Say TFA Has Big Problems When it Comes to Race”
  • For old time’s sake: A 2012 report from the Minneapolis StarTribune, about TFA alum Josh Reimnitz’s sudden school board race–the first to bring in tons of outside money. Reimnitz won. He’s also given money to Brakke’s campaign, as have many other local education reform advocates, such as Pam Costain, CEO of AchieveMPLS, “non-profit partner” of the Minneapolis Public Schools
  • Background reading: Dr. Lois Weiner on Neoliberal Education Reform

Please consider donating to keep this blog rolling. Your support is crucial and much appreciated. I am as independent and non-neoliberal as can be!

[Exq_ppd_form]