"Democrats For Education Reform" [View All]

Board of Directors
The DFER Board

Kevin Chavous (chair) - Former Washington, DC, City Council member and chair of the Education Committee.

Tony Davis - Anchorage Capital, board chair for Achievement First East New York, in Brooklyn.

Charles Ledley - Cornwall Capital, NYC, board member and treasurer of Harlem Village Academy and Leadership Village Academy Charter Schools.

Rafael Mayer - Co-founder and managing partner, Khronos LLC, board member for Planned Parenthood of NYC, KIPP AMP, and The Dalton School.

Sara Mead - New America Foundation, former analyst for Education Sector and the Progressive Policy Institute, Washington, D.C.

John Petry - Gotham Capital, co-founder of Harlem Success Academy Charter School, NYC.

Andrew Rotherham - Co-Founder and Publisher, Education Sector, former White House education advisor to President Clinton, author of the blog, Eduwonk.com.

Whitney Tilson - T2 Partners and Tilson Funds, vice chairman of KIPP Academy Charter Schools in NYC, co-founder of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City.

(Note - Organizations listed here are for identification purposes only and do not imply an endorsement or affiliation.)

The DFER Board of Advisors

William Ackman - Founder, Pershing Square Capital.

Steve Barr - Founder and CEO, Green Dot Public Schools.

Cory Booker - Mayor of Newark, N.J.

David Einhorn - Founder of Greenlight Capital, LLC.

Joel Greenblatt - Founder and Managing Partner of Gotham Capital.

Vincent Mai - Chairman of AEA Investors, LP.

Michael Novogratz - President of Fortress Investment Group.

Tom Vander Ark - Partner, Revolution Learning.

Whitney Tilson has had enough when it comes to Democratic opposition to education reforms. “There are millions of kids out there who are being failed by the system, and our party is looking the other way. It’s morally bankrupt and politically suicidal, and you can quote me on that,” he says.

Tilson, a hedge fund manager and longtime Democratic funder and activist, is looking to shake up his party’s positions on education by co-founding Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), a new grassroots lobbying, funding and advocacy group that plans to challenge the entrenched party power of teachers’ unions and other education sector interests, who largely define the official Democratic position on education issues. DFER believes that high standards, innovation and accountability for success—qualities in short supply among the establishment—are essential for fueling excellence in education and giving all children an equal opportunity to succeed.

...

Of equal importance to DFER, which officially launches on June 5, 2007, is reaching out to Democratic presidential candidates, all of whom are looking for ways to distinguish themselves from the pack. Tilson believes that with the presidential race and the effort by candidates to stake out fresh and interesting positions, “the climate is better than ever” for having a discussion on education reform in the party.

The group also plans to raise several million dollars over the next 15 months to support reform-minded Democratic candidates—and DFER members are hoping that raising those funds will create a greater willingness among candidates to speak out about their pro-reform views. “Unfortunately, we may have far more Democrats who will give money to this sort of effort than we will have deserving candidates,” notes executive director Joe Williams, a former New York Daily News reporter.

Our Funders
2007-2010



The Achelis and Bodman Foundations

The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation

The Broad Foundation

The Brookhill Foundation

The Louis Calder Foundation

The Challenge Foundation

Doris and Donald Fisher Fund

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace

The Joyce Foundation

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

The Koret Foundation

The Kovner Foundation

Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation

The Robertson Foundation

Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation

Searle Freedom Trust

The William E. Simon Foundation

The Spencer Foundation

The John Templeton Foundation

The Walton Family Foundation

Friends:

I was struck by the comment that appeared in the NY Times over the weekend from Zeph Capo, a union boss with the Houston Federation of Teachers.

The story, if you didn't see it, looked at growing frustrations with President Obama among teacher union bosses nationwide.

"I ripped the Obama sticker off my truck," a pissed-off Capo told America's newspaper of record.

Hmmm. What do you suppose was underneath this Obama sticker??? Could it have been a... Hillary sticker?

The Houston Federation of Teachers, like many teacher union locals around the country, did NOT support candidate Barack Obama in the primaries. It is important to remember, despite attempts to re-write history that are in full swing in teacher union HQ's all over the country, that teachers unions spent MILLIONS trying to make sure that Barack Obama did not become president. The prolonged presidential primary where the unions were decidedly trying to keep Hillary Clinton's presidential aspirations on life support, lawsuits to close down Obama-friendly polling places, etc.

By the time candidate Obama survived these prolonged AFT-NEA attacks, he had also built the most incredible INDEPENDENT fundraising machine we have ever seen in American politics.