David
Sirota and a team of investigative reporters have discovered that
the pension funds of teachers in Massachusetts are being tapped by Wall Street
financiers to underwrite Question 2, which will authorize an expansion of
non-union charter schools.
Unions
are spending millions of dollars to defend the public schools of Massachusetts
against privatization. Meanwhile, their own pension funds are financing the
campaign to increase privatization.
“When Massachusetts public school teachers pay into their pension fund each month, they may not realize where the money goes. Wall Street titans are using some of the profits from managing that money to finance an education ballot initiative that many teachers say will harm traditional public schools.
“An
International Business Times/MapLight investigation has found that executives at
eight financial firms with contracts to manage Massachusetts state pension
assets have bypassed anti-corruption rules and funneled at least $778,000 to
groups backing Question 2, which would expand the number of charter schools in
the state.
“Millions
more dollars have flowed from the executives to nonprofit groups supporting the
charter school movement in the lead-up to the November vote.
"Republican Gov.
Charlie Baker, himself a former financial executive, is leading the fight to
increase the number of publicly funded, privately run charter schools in
Massachusetts — and he appoints trustees to the board that directs state
pension investments….
“This
report is the latest in an IBT/MapLight series examining how anti-corruption
laws are circumvented or unenforced. The cash flowing to the Massachusetts
school initiative spotlights more than just a fight over education policy: It
exemplifies one of the ways in which the securities and investment industry can
get around a federal rule that was designed to restrict financial executives
from giving campaign cash to governors with the power to influence state
pension business.
“In
the case of Massachusetts, since the federal rule does not cover money donated
to governors’ policy initiatives, executives banned from donating directly to
Gov. Baker are able to give to a constellation of groups that are pushing his
pet cause — and that in some cases are advised by Baker’s political associates.
“Meanwhile,
Baker’s appointees at the state pension board are permitted to continue
delivering investment deals and fees to those same donors’ firms.”