Ashley Smith-Juarez executive director of the Chartrand foundation raised 84 plus thousand dollars last quarter in her bid to capture the district three seat.
Let me put that in perspective for you, that is ten thousand dollars more than she would be paid over the next two years if she wins and is roughly double what the other 11 candidates raised and that includes the twenty-thousand that Martha Barrett has in the bank.
The Chartrand foundation might sound familiar, they are a pro school choice outfit run by deep pocketed Gary Chartrand, who despite the fact he has never been an educator, was appointed to the board of education by Governor Rick Scott. School choice by the way in Florida is code for public education privatization.
If it alarms you that a pro charter school and pro voucher candidate, things that take money away from cash starved public schools has raised so much money you aren’t the only one but school choice has become big business with millions of dollars at stake and that explains many of her donors. She had over hundred donors that gave the maximum of 500 dollars. How many people do you know that could afford to give 50 to a campaign?
Another little fact about Mrs. Smith-Juarez is that some years ago she was a teacher at the Bolles school. How having rich friends and once teaching at an elite prep prepares one to find solutions for an urban school district is beyond me.
Our school system is already being bought up by corporations and hedge fund managers, can we really afford to sell them a school board seat too?
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