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Shadowy pro-voucher group continues attack on State Rep. Roebuck
A mysterious group that supports school vouchers, which use taxpayer dollars to fund private and religious school tuition, has sent out a second round of mailers attacking State Rep. James Roebuck.
Shadowy pro-voucher group continues attack on State Rep. Roebuck
A mysterious third-party group that supports school vouchers, which use taxpayer dollars to fund private and religious school tuition, has sent out a second round of mailers attacking West Philadelphia State Rep. James Roebuck.
The first mailer didn't mention vouchers by name, saying only that Roebuck, who opposes vouchers, "blocked parents from choosing which school is best for their children.”
The most recent attack is even more oblique—and unquestionably misleading. The mailer blames Roebuck for the controversies surrounding former Superintendent Arlene Ackerman's ruinous tenure, high dropout rates, overcrowded classrooms, school violence and, once again, for the enrollment cap at the prestigious and University of Pennsylvania-funded Penn Alexander public school.
If you think that's bizarre, try this last accusation: Roebuck is blamed for what appears to be widespread cheating on standardized tests at Philadelphia schools. Many observers, however, blame the cheating on the very same school “reform” movement that is financing the pro-voucher campaign, which has pushed for high-stakes standardized tests to play an increasingly important role in teacher evaluation and even a school's very survival.
A Penn graduate named Fatimah Lorén Muhammad, backed by the powerful pro-voucher State Sen. Anthony Williams, is challenging Roebuck in the 188th District. The neighborhood stretching from Penn through Clark Park and out to 52nd Street is plastered with Obama-fied Shepard Fairey-style posters of Muhammad's face, but the attack flyers are attributed only to a shadowy third-party group called Public Education Excellence and do not mention her name.
Voucher money—including big-time hedge fund dollars—could play a major role in Pennsylvania's 2012 Democratic primary. The pro-voucher PAC Students First has already spent $590,682.
Read my detailed report here.
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