Sure, individuals and various companies can donate money to various politicians. And there is nothing wrong with politicians accepting the money and being friends with donors. A politician can even look favorably upon charter schools. All that being said, I see a problem with the relationship between UNO (a charter school firm) contractors and House Speaker Michael Madigan.
Today's Chicago Sun-Times has done some extensive investigative reporting on the closeness of these ties.
It is no secret that Madigan introduced an amendment to legislation that yielded a $98 million grant to UNO in 2009. What is troubling about this large grant is the fact that the grant was awarded 'without any requirment for competitive bidding on the work, as government agencies typically must do.'
This past October 30, 2012 UNO hosted a campaign fundraiser. More than $24,000 in donations were received that went to campaign funds controlled by Madigan. Okay, no problem, this is legal. However, after the Madigan benefit, as reported by the Sun Times, 'a bill was introduced in Springfield on Jan. 2 that would have provided another $35.2 million in state money UNO was seeking to build more charter schools.
The reason this smells is because of an age old problem with our American democracy. It is called 'pay to play' and it is repugnant.
I have said this before and I'll say it again...I don't want to see any for-profit firms (charter companies) involved in what is suppose to be true public education.
Dick
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment