PATCH VOICES: Education Reformers' Double-Dealing Tactics

by Sen. Vincent Fort

Rae Harkness and the “school reform” crowd would like the public to believe that they have the best interests of children at heart.  Anyone who disagrees with them doesn’t care about kids.  At the same time some of these reformers say they “appreciate” teachers, they work to undermine teacher’s access to grievance procedures.  These “reformers” want it both ways — they say they “appreciate” teachers at the same time they demonize teachers and teacher organizations as “part of the problem.”  Rep. Alisha Thomas Morgan’s Teacher Appreciation event is a class example of this double dealing.

Ms. Harkness in her defense of Representative Alisha Thomas Morgan attacks me because I have accepted campaign contributions from the Georgia Federation of Teachers. I am glad to have the support of GFT.

At the same time I am also glad I can say I never received campaign contributions from former Sen. Eric Johnson as Rep. Morgan has done. Johnson is a Confederate-flag waving right-winger and “school reformer” that Rep. Morgan has not only received campaign contributions from but made common cause with on private school voucher legislation.

Beyond that, the school reform crowd benefits from massive amounts of rightwing money. The same people who finance efforts to diminish African-American voting rights and worker protection are the same people Morgan buddied up to last year in the campaign to pass the charter school amendment which in effect puts in place a private school system financed by taxpayers.

These right wingers who helped finance the charter school amendment campaign include Alice Walton of Wal-Mart who gave a stunning $600,000 to the charter school amendment effort and the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity. Ms. Harkness and Rep. Morgan may believe Johnson, Walton, and the Koch brothers have the best interests of children at heart.  I don’t.

I believe the best thing to do is to devote our time, energy, and resources to 
improving public schools as opposed to creating a private school system while 
demonizing those who may disagree.

Mr. Fort, D-Atlanta, is the Democratic Whip in the Georgia State Senate.