logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Fighting Back against Dark Money: Fines Levied in Failed Bids to Eliminate Cap on Charter Schools

Rob Meiksins
January 5, 2018
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

January 2, 2018; Boston Herald

For those of us who have been nervous about the impact of the Citizens United ruling, here are two cases in Massachusetts over the last few months that are worth paying attention to. In these cases, two political action committees, Strong Economy for Growth (SEFG) and Families for Excellent Schools – Advocacy (FESA), were severely penalized by the Office of Campaign and Political Finance for making donations designed to sway the outcome of an election in such a way that the identity of donors was hidden illegally.

The Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) was created in 1984 with the specific goal of defending Massachusetts’s campaign finance law, Chapter 55 of the Massachusetts General Law. The two cases in question revolve around two ballot questions, but the majority of the money was aimed at one asking voters if they supported removing the cap on the number of charter schools in the state. The referendum lost in November 2017 despite support from Republican governor Charlie Baker and some heavy investment by donors both in and outside the state. This may have been helped by a grassroots and statewide voter education, engagement, and turnout effort that alerted parents to the politics behind the story, which itself builds on a long history of community and political organizing.

In October of 2017, FESA was found to have acted with intent to hide the identity of the source of donations totaling $15 million in support of the referendum. FESA is the advocacy arm of a New York-based nonprofit promoting parental involvement, which has generally played out as supporting charter schools. OCPF found that this group acted in contravention of MLG Chapter 55 by raising funds with the intent of giving to a specific political action committee. The finding is that the intent was to raise the funds for the Great Schools Massachusetts Ballot Question Committee. If the committee had raised the money directly, the donors’ names would have to be revealed. So, the intent here was to hide the individual donors and list only FESA.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

The penalty was a whopping $425,000, which is the exact amount that FESA had as of August 2017. FESA also had to reveal the names of its donors, which led to some eyebrows being raised: Two donors are on Gov. Baker’s cabinet, and another is Jonathan Sackler, an owner of the pharmaceutical company that makes the opioid OxyContin.

The other, more recent, case is very similar. Just this month, SEFG was fined $31,000 by OCPF for illegally hiding the source of donations that were raised with the specific intent of giving to, among others, the very same committee that FESA gave to. The amount of the fine corresponds to the funds that were currently available in the group’s account. The issue is the same as with FESA. SEFG had raised the funds with the specific goal of giving to the committee, which would enable them to hide the names of the donors.

SEFG also had to reveal the names of the donors in question and, again, there are some surprises. One donor is the committee for the presidential campaign of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. The treasurer of that committee is also the treasurer for Gov. Baker’s campaign.

Oh, what a tangled web these attempts to sway elections weave when first they practice to deceive, to adjust the line from Sir Walter Scott’s poem. We can only thank OCPF for paying attention and bringing this to light. In fact, NPQ has written about the charter school industry’s tendency to sidetrack the disclosure and accountability practices that are fundamental to nonprofits. For a reminder, check out this 2015 story by Rick Cohen.—Rob Meiksins

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rob Meiksins

Rob has served in the nonprofit sector for over 30 years in roles ranging from intern to program manager, executive director to board director, and consultant. Starting out in professional theatre in New York City, Rob moved to Milwaukee to work with Milwaukee Rep as the dramaturg. Later, he started to work more and more helping people and organizations in the nonprofit sector articulate, and then take the next step towards their vision. Currently he is working on a new effort to establish an intentional process for nonprofits to identify their capacity-building needs and then learn about and implement the tools that will help. Ideally this is a partnership between nonprofits, consultants, and the philanthropic community to strengthen the sector we all see as critical.

More about: Dark Moneydonor disclosureFundraisingNonprofit NewsPhilanthropy

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

NPQ_Winter_2022Subscribe Today
You might also like
Why Social Change Films Matter
Cyndi Suarez and Saphia Suarez
Philanthropy Must Move from Charity to Solidarity
Son Chau
Eliminating Biphobia Through Breath, Brotherhood, and the Arts
H. “Herukhuti” Sharif Williams
Using a Data-Driven Strategy to Advance Racial Equity in Grantmaking
Heather Lenz, Ariel Jordan and Catherine Smith
Protecting Nonprofits That Protect Us During Crises—and Beyond
Aisha Benson and Jen Talansky
Reimagining Philanthropy to Build a Culture of Repair
Aria Florant and Venneikia Williams

Upcoming Webinars

Group Created with Sketch.
February 23rd, 2 pm ET

Worker Power in the Social Sector

Register Now
Group Created with Sketch.
March 15th, 2 pm ET

Remaking the Economy

Caring for the Care Economy

Register Now
You might also like
Why Social Change Films Matter
Cyndi Suarez and Saphia Suarez
Philanthropy Must Move from Charity to Solidarity
Son Chau
Eliminating Biphobia Through Breath, Brotherhood, and the...
H. “Herukhuti” Sharif Williams

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.