http://dferwatch.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/romero-to-lead-dfer-ca/
SACRAMENTO, CA–(Marketwire – November 1, 2010) – California State Senator Gloria Romero (D — East Los Angeles), Chair of the Senate Education Committee, has been selected to lead the expansion of Democrats for Education Reform to California, the national organization announced today.
“With a bold vision and a fearless approach, Senator Romero has been leading the way on critical education reform in California for years,” said Joe Williams, DFER’s Executive Director. “Gloria recognizes the destructiveness of California’s achievement gap, and she’s committed to closing it for the benefit of all of the state’s young people. There’s simply no better person to steer our Golden State expansion.”
Launched in 2007, DFER has active chapters in New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Colorado, with others on the way. The organization pushes to make Democratic politicians more active participants in efforts to dramatically improve public schools for students.
Senator Romero, who as a candidate for office was named one of DFER’s “Education Reformers of the Month” in 2009, has been recognized as one of the most powerful leaders on education policy issues in California and nationally. In addition to chairing the Senate Education Committee, she created and chaired the Senate Select Committee on Urban School Governance. She has spearheaded numerous legislative efforts to improve public education by increasing accountability and enabling school choice, among many other initiatives.
Barf. She lost the bid to become California State Superintendant of Public Instruction and come to find out she was a DFER stalking horse all the time. They managed to shake loose a lot of money for her (non)election. I guess they didn't want to see all of that money go totally to waste.
http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2010/03/how-to-buy-candidate-gloria-romero-for.htmlHow to Buy a Candidate: Gloria Romero for CA Superintendent of Public Instruction
It's no secret that CA State Senator Gloria Romero (and Chair of the Senate Education Committee in CA) is a major fan of charter schools, competition, and Race to the Top. She's either written or supported a variety of school choice bills, pro-charter legislation, and she never hesitates to bash public education. Her webpage claims she wrote the Parent Trigger legislation, but the reality is she was just the mouthpiece of a movement spearheaded by the various charter school organizations backed, of course, by the philanthrocapitalists looking to push their education agenda. Romero is currently running for Superintendent of Public Instruction, one of the top education positions in the state of California. Below is a list of her funders (pulled from here; h/t to David Cohen on Twitter for bringing this to my attention):
Donald Fisher - 4/3/2009 - $6,500
Doris Fisher - 4/9/2009 - $6,500
Reed Hastings - 6/24/2009 - $6,500
Ana F. Ponce, Camino Nuevo Charter Academy, Principal - 6/15/2009 - $250
Sean E. Peake, VP of Insurance CA Charter Schools Association - 6/15/2009 - $100
Lisa Berlanga, GM of CA Charter Schools Association - 6/15/2009 - $100
Peter H. Hanley, Director of Oakland Charter Schools - 6/15/2009 - $100
Myrna Castejon, SVP School Development, CA Charter School Association - 6/15/2009 - $100
Diane S. Tavenner, Executive Director of Summit Preparatory Charter HS - 6/15/2009 - $100
William Ouchi, UCLA Professor (Business Management, not education) - 6/20/2009 - $1,000
Orbach, Huff & Suarez LLP (involved in K12 construction litigation) - 6/20/2009 - $1,000
Joseph Castillo, Contractor for Premier West Contractors (involved in K12 education construction) - 6/20/2009 - $500
Javan Nabili, GKK Works Inc (involved in K12 construction) - 6/20/2009 - $500
Friends of Monica Garcia 2009 (Garcia is on the LAUSD Board) - 6/30/2009 - $1,000
Steinberg for Senate 2010 (Steinberg is State Senate Pro Tem) - 6/30/2009 - $3,900
Education Management LLC (large post-secondary for-profit education provider) - 6/30/2009 - $3,000
Association of American Publishers, Inc PAC - 6/30/2009 - $1,000
Edythe Broad (listed as "homemaker")- 6/30/2009 - $6,500
Edythe Broad - 6/30/2009 - $6,500 (*update 8:41 PST 3/8/10: I think this may be an error - not sure you can make 2 donations of this size in one year, but there are also 2 different transaction numbers for them)
EdVoice for the Kids PAC - 6/30/2009 - $6,500
Lawrence Stupeski - 6/30/2009 - $6,500
Gregory Penner, Investor at Madrone Capital Partners - 6/30/2009 - $6,500
Eli Broad - 6/30/2009 - $500
Eli Broad - 6/30/2009 - $500
Roger Lowenstein, LA Leadership Academy charter school - 6/18/2009 - $1,000
Marco Petruzzi, Green Dot Public Schools - 6/29/2009 - $250
Branche Jones, VP CA Charter School Association - 5/27/2009 - $600
Lawrence Stupski - 8/19/2009 - $6,500
Joyce Stupski - 8/19/2009 - $6,500
Elizabeth Fisher - 8/19/2009 - $6,500
Joyce Stupski - 8/19/2009 - $6,500
Donald Fisher - 8/19/2009 - $6,500
Robert Fisher - 8/19/2009 - $6,500
John Fisher - 8/19/2009 - $6,500
Doris Fisher - 8/19/2009 - $6,500
William Fisher (Manzanita Capital) - 9/18/2009 - $6,500
Disney Worldwide Services Inc - 9/21/2009 - $1,000
Vanir Construction Management, Inc. (involved in K12 construction management) - 10/13/2009 - $6,500
Michael Piscal (ICEF) - 10/20/2009 - $500
HMC Architects (involved in K12 construction) - 10/20/2009 - $5,000
Richard Riordan - 11/20/2009 - $6,500
Christopher Crane, President of Eduleap (fiance for Christian schools in Africa) - 12/18/2009 - $6,500
Majestic Realty Co - 12/31/2009 - $6,000
Majestic Realty Co - 12/31/2009 - $500
Majestic Realty Co - 12/31/2009 - $6,500
Kent Valley (of Majestic Realty Co) - 12/31/2009 - $2,000
David Wheeler (of Majestic Realty Co) - 12/31/2009 - $1,000
Whitney Tilson - 9/14/2009 - $250
Charles Ledley (Cornwall Captial) - 9/14/2009 - $1,000
Marcia Aaron (KIPP LA schools) - 9/14/2009 - $500
John Petry (Gotham Capital) - 9/14/2009 - $250
Alex Johnson (ConCann) - 9/21/2009 - $100
John Petry (Gotham Capital) - 10/14/2009 - $250
Joe Williams (DFER) - 9/8/2009 - $250
You can see the full rundown of Gloria's piggybank here. She reported $334,299.34 in contributions in 2009. $143,000 of that came from high-rollers donating the maximum $6,500; the total of the above contributions total $171,100. It should be noted that some labor unions have donated to Romero, but the majority of her funding comes from philanthropists pushing charter schools, construction companies, and even some NYC hedge fund managers.
The typical offenders show up on her list: much of the Fisher Family, Eli and Edythe, EdVoice, and even Whitney Tilson cut a $250 check despite being very busy with his near-fraud shenanigans and his STOP THE PRESSES!!! e-mail blasts.
The war for California is heating up.
http://toped.svefoundation.org/2010/11/02/democratic-ed-group-hires-gloria-romero/
DFER plans to open two offices, in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, and is raising $1 million to get off the ground. Its initial focus in California will not be on the Capitol, but on large urban districts, like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, and San Diego, where it will back candidates willing to stand behind DFER’s principles, national Executive Director Joe Williams said Monday. School trustee races are non-partisan, but in many urban districts the choice is often among Democrats.
DFER also could play a role once the state’s open primary law takes effect in June 2012. Under the new system, which voters passed in June,the two top candidates in primary elections will face off in the November general election, regardless of their party affiliations. In some instances, that could pit a traditional union-backed Democrat against a moderate Democrat backed by independents and Republicans.
<snip>
In Romero, DFER has found a Democratic leader who not only stood up to but also antagonized CTA. Romero led the effort to pass two elements of a bill this year that was to improve the state’s Race to the Top application: the parent trigger, giving a majority of parents in a low-performing school the right to demand a charter conversion or other changes, and open enrollment, allowing children in the lowest 10 percent of schools to attend a school in another district. She also has become a big supporter of charter schools. In the June primary for state superintendent, CTA spent a couple of million dollars in the primary for state superintendent supporting Assembly member Tom Torlakson. Romero got 17.2 percent of the vote, 0.8 percentage point behind Torlakson and 1.6 percentage points behind Larry Aceves, a retired superintendent. The lesson from Romero’s defeat, Williams said, is that charter school operators and their supporters must become more politically active.
<snip>
Founded three years ago, DFER has spent $17 million on advocacy, including contributions to candidates. The national DFER has backed U.S. Rep. George Miller of Martinez, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a charter school founder and advocate. This election, DFER is backing Andrea “Andie” Corso, a candidate for Sacramento City Unified trustee. Both DFER and the NEA are supporting U.S. Sen. Michael Bennett, who’s in a tough re-election campaign in Colorado.
Venture capitalists and fund managers are heavily represented on DFER’s board of directors and board of advisers. In California, DFER is likely to hit up Reed Hastings and Eli Broad, two wealthy Democrats who fund charter schools, and EdVoice, a Sacramento-based, non-partisan advocacy organization with a similar mission to DFER.
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