Stand For Children Refuses To Disclose How Much Money It's Spending To Buy IPS School Board Election

Once again, radio talk show host Amos Brown continues to be the only media person doing any digging to provide information to voters about this year's candidates for the Indianapolis Public Schools board. During his "Afternoons with Amos" show yesterday afternoon, Brown confronted Stand For Children's executive director, Justin Ohlemiller, to provide answers about the expenditures the supposed nonprofit organization is making to buy the election for the three candidates it has endorsed. As Brown notes, yesterday was the deadline for political action committees to file information regarding their expenditures. Ohlemiller was adamant during his interview with Brown that his organization had no legal obligation to make public its expenditures until after the November 4th election.

Stand for Children has endorsed Mary Ann Sullivan in the at-large IPS board race, someone who has a long-standing financial relationship with education profiteers through her work as a paid education consultant. The organization endorsed LaNier Echols in District 5, who has a clear conflict of interest because of her full-time employment as a Dean of Students for the Carpe Diem charter school on North Meridian Street. In District 3, Stand for Children is backing former IPS board member, Kelly Bentley, who has long-standing ties with Democrats for Education Reform, a nonprofit bankrolled by education profiteers. Stand for Children is spending an enormous amount of money in support of these three candidates. What is happening before your eyes is a confluence of out-of-state interests with a vested financial interest in reaching certain outcomes with the expenditure of public funds for education working to seize control of our local schools by financing the campaigns of candidates who will be nothing more than their stooges if elected to the board. Their candidates could care less about helping IPS schools do a better job educating students; they are only concerned about implementing policies to enrich their benefactors.

You can read more about Brown's interview with Ohlemiller and listen to his interview with him here. You can read more on my previous discussion of this issue here.