That is a fair and valid question raised by a group of concerned parents called, "Momma Bears." They researched and found out some really suspicious info about StudentsFirst and the way it operates. Here is an excerpt from their article about StudentsFirst:
"As StudentsFirst pretends to support children, StudentsFirst attacks the very teachers and school environments that nurture and educate children. Through millions of dollars from corporate interests, StudentsFirst influences campaigns and laws that benefit their wealthy supporters."
"In Tennessee, StudentsFirst by far leads the pack of outside funding to influence elections and legislators. Why is an organization in California spending so much money in Tennessee? or any state? Because of the huuuuge profit to be reaped with public tax dollars by turning our public schools into profitable charter schools."
"Momma Bears aren't fooled. This is definitely NOT a grassroots organization. "Astroturf" is a better description. There are no healthy roots, only an expensive layer of fake green plastic that doesn't fool anyone."
Click HERE to read the entire article about StudentsFirst. Warning:
... you may be surprised at some of the facts they uncovered.
...you might be angry that this organization seeks to take control away from our locally elected school boards.
...you will be sad to see what has become of schools that followed Michelle Rhee & StudentsFirst's agenda.
Tennessee parents most certainly do NOT want the same fate for our schools.
NOTE: We see that many TN legislators, and even some local school board members, have received large campaign contributions from StudentsFirst. In fact 9 of the top 15 campaign contributions last year from StudentsFirst went to Tennessee politicians. According to the news media, StudentsFirst plans to give and spend even more this year in TN.
While we can't fault politicians for turning down free campaign funding, we wonder HOW MUCH INFLUENCE does StudentsFirst have over the people that WE cast our votes to elect to represent US? How much weight do StudentsFirst lobbyists carry when they hand legislators their professional, expensive pamphlets containing beautiful graphs of manipulated data? Are our legislators and school board members misled hearing their "buzz-words" and empty promises? Are our legislators gullible or flattered enough to vote against OUR children in favor of corporate profits?
Are we wasting our time sending these TNparent emails to those we elected? It takes quite a bit of time to collect, collaborate, edit, and send these emails and post them on our website. We do this because we believe in public education, and we believe in TN. We intend to make a difference. Tennessee parents are awake, and we will be closely watching how our legislators vote. Tennessee parents will remember at election time, and wise leaders would do well to remember that. Our voices are strong, but our votes are stronger.
Please hear OUR voices, not their dollars.
Sincerely,
TN parents
PS - We see that some TN Board of Education members unsubscribed from our emails... Clearly Richard Rhoda and Dr. Jean Anne Rogers do not want to hear what Tennessee parents have to say. Rest assured, we get their message loud and clear.
"As StudentsFirst pretends to support children, StudentsFirst attacks the very teachers and school environments that nurture and educate children. Through millions of dollars from corporate interests, StudentsFirst influences campaigns and laws that benefit their wealthy supporters."
"In Tennessee, StudentsFirst by far leads the pack of outside funding to influence elections and legislators. Why is an organization in California spending so much money in Tennessee? or any state? Because of the huuuuge profit to be reaped with public tax dollars by turning our public schools into profitable charter schools."
"Momma Bears aren't fooled. This is definitely NOT a grassroots organization. "Astroturf" is a better description. There are no healthy roots, only an expensive layer of fake green plastic that doesn't fool anyone."
Click HERE to read the entire article about StudentsFirst. Warning:
... you may be surprised at some of the facts they uncovered.
...you might be angry that this organization seeks to take control away from our locally elected school boards.
...you will be sad to see what has become of schools that followed Michelle Rhee & StudentsFirst's agenda.
Tennessee parents most certainly do NOT want the same fate for our schools.
NOTE: We see that many TN legislators, and even some local school board members, have received large campaign contributions from StudentsFirst. In fact 9 of the top 15 campaign contributions last year from StudentsFirst went to Tennessee politicians. According to the news media, StudentsFirst plans to give and spend even more this year in TN.
While we can't fault politicians for turning down free campaign funding, we wonder HOW MUCH INFLUENCE does StudentsFirst have over the people that WE cast our votes to elect to represent US? How much weight do StudentsFirst lobbyists carry when they hand legislators their professional, expensive pamphlets containing beautiful graphs of manipulated data? Are our legislators and school board members misled hearing their "buzz-words" and empty promises? Are our legislators gullible or flattered enough to vote against OUR children in favor of corporate profits?
Are we wasting our time sending these TNparent emails to those we elected? It takes quite a bit of time to collect, collaborate, edit, and send these emails and post them on our website. We do this because we believe in public education, and we believe in TN. We intend to make a difference. Tennessee parents are awake, and we will be closely watching how our legislators vote. Tennessee parents will remember at election time, and wise leaders would do well to remember that. Our voices are strong, but our votes are stronger.
Please hear OUR voices, not their dollars.
Sincerely,
TN parents
PS - We see that some TN Board of Education members unsubscribed from our emails... Clearly Richard Rhoda and Dr. Jean Anne Rogers do not want to hear what Tennessee parents have to say. Rest assured, we get their message loud and clear.
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