With news that State Senator John Sampson will be indicted this week on corruption charges, I got to wondering just how many powerful New York State politicians with connections to the vaunted DFER movement have been brought low by scandal or criminal probe.
Considering that the money that funds the Democrats for Education Reform comes from the Wall Street criminal class and hedge fund managers/tax dodgers, it's perhaps not such a surprise that the DFER's tainted money eventually ends up supporting crooked politicians.
Here's a partial list of politicians supported by the Democrats For Education Reform who have either gone down on criminal charges or scandal. Note too that some of the people on this list have also been supported by the UFT and/or the NYSUT:
Eliot Spitzer (Troopergate, hooker scandal)
David Paterson (witness tampering, perjury)
Malcolm Smith (bribery, corruption scandal)
Vito Lopez (sexual harassment scandal)
John Sampson (bribery, corruption scandal)
Antoine Thompson (pay to play scandal)
William Boyland (bribery scandal, acquitted on that scandal, arrested weeks later in another bribery scandal)
Pedro Espada (tax evasion conviction, assorted other scandals)
Carl Kruger (guilty plea in corruption case; currently serving seven years in prison.)
LINKS:
http://www.dfer.org/2007/05/new_generation.php
http://dferwatch.wordpress.com/connections-2/dfer-nys/
That's some list - two former governors, six current or former state senators (three of whom were in leadership positions), one assemblyman, and one former Kings County Democratic chairman.
And of course the Albany corruption probes are continuing and may bring down other politicians before all is said and done as well.
The next time you hear the DFER's talk about how corrupt and corrosive an influence the teachers union is, remember just who the DFER's support politically and financially.
Quite frankly, considering the tainted Wall Street and hedge fund sources for the Democrats for Education Reform PAC money that they're using to support all these crooked politicians the DFER's ought to change their motto to: CROOKS FOR CROOKS.
Great list for the New York City area.
ReplyDeleteIt could get really exhausting if you branch out nationally.
Things are looking messy for education reform-supporting pols in Florida.
Kelli Starger (St. Senate) and Carlos Trujillo (House of Representatives) --in this case, both Republicans-- are getting confronted by a lot of tough questions about petitions for a parent trigger bill (the subject of that bomb of political agitprop, Won't Back Down), linked with the wicked witch of teflon, Michelle Rhee.
See New Rhee Scandal?: Forged Use of Names in Florida Parent Trigger Petitions, By 29 Accounts
I saw that on NYCEYE earlier. I'm not surprised they're forging signatures and/or fooling people into signing the trigger. It's a short road from erasing answers on tests to forging signatures on petitions.
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