(Long Island, NY) Public education advocates and progressive leaders today demanded to know how much the hedge fund-backed Families for Excellent Schools spent on the rally today to attack Mayor de Blasio rather than fight for better schools for all children. They also called on Families for Excellent Schools to engage in a serious and substantive debate on education, and stop waging a campaign that harms kids.
“This rally is part of an intricate scheme to politically attack Mayor deBlasio and his commitment to fairly fund the neediest public schools. We’ve witnessed this in their distasteful attack ad, race-baiting parents to denounce de Blasio and his initiatives for more equitable schools. Both the ad and this rally were financed by a handful of hedge fund billionaires who want a new mayor, and may want Eva Moskowitz as their candidate. Instead of attacking our public schools, the hedge funders should pay their fair share in taxes so that our students have the resources they need.” said Zakiyah Ansari, Advocacy Director, Alliance for Quality Education. We have a simple request for Families for Excellent Schools: immediately disclose how much hedge fund money was spent today on the rally to attack Mayor de Blasio and denigrate our public school system
“The hypocrisy of this rally is appalling. If Families for Excellent Schools cares all about equality, they should prove it by advocating for all children. Instead, they continue to run a political campaign focused solely on bashing Mayor de Blasio and giving his opponents a platform. Parents and children have a right to know how much dirty hedge fund money is being spent to trash public education and harm communities of color,” said Jonathan Westin, Executive Director of New York Communities for Change.
“We all agree that high-quality education should be available to all students regardless of where they live. But these attacks against Mayor de Blasio do nothing to improve education or help kids. They are counter-productive and, frankly, a waste of time. Our entire city deserves a serious and substantive debate about the future of public education. We’ve challenged Families for Excellent Schools to have that debate with us. But they have yet to respond,” said Bill Lipton, New York Director, Working Families Party.
