Delaware's "Vision 2015" set to "fundamentally transform" education system

Delaware recently decided to overhaul its education system in order to compete for the national “Race to the Top” lottery.  Delaware’s education system badly needs to be reformed along with many other states but the question is who the decision makers that will decide how and what reforms are initiated?  A group of “education, government, business and civic leaders” was formed in 2006 and dubbed “Vision 2015”.  The Examiner has found staggering information linking Delaware education reform to some of the most powerful and politically connected people in the world which begs the question, is this about the kids or about “fundamentally changing America”?

Even if you are not from Delaware, you should pay attention to this article as well because your states may have similar groups and you may even see some of the same people working on the education reforms in your state. 

What is Vision 2015 and why was it created?

Delaware’s education system is ranked 5th in education spending but only 27th in performance.  The United States as a whole is in the top 5 in terms of education spending but outside the top 25 in math and barely inside the top 20 in reading.  Formed in 2006, Vision 2015 is a group of approximately 100 education, government, business and civic group leaders who were brought together to reform Delaware’s education system.  Their mission is to review the current system, determine its successes and failures and recommend changes that would help to turn the system around and make Delaware a leader in education.  Its overall goal is to create a “world class public education system” in Delaware.  The group is made up of a 28 member “steering committee” who reviews the information gathered and researched by the 80 members of individual working groups.  It also claims to have taken input and insight from over 500 Delaware citizens in meetings, forums and focus groups done across the state.

Who are the members of Vision 2015?

Vision 2015 describes itself as “a collaborative effort by education, government, business and civic leaders throughout Delaware--along with hundreds of citizens like you--to provide a world-class public education to each and every student in Delaware.”  Its main steering committee is a who’s who of Delaware business, education and public policy leaders.  In fact, the only member of the steering committee not associated directly with Delaware State Government, a major educational organization or civic group or a Delaware based financial institution is Kevin Hall, Chief Operating Officer of The Broad Foundation.
But are all interests represented equitably by the group?  Research has found that since 2007, progressive Democrat candidates and PAC’s have received at least $30,000 and the NEA has received at least $5,893 from the 80+ members and their associated organizations listed on the Vision 2015 website.  By contrast $26,050 has been given to the GOP and GOP candidates.  Of that number, Marvin N. Schoenhals, Chairman, WSFS Bank gave $24,200 to the GOP and GOP candidates meaning that the rest of the group combined to give $1,850 to GOP candidates and PACs.  54 of the 80+ members are registered Democrats and 25 of the members were not able to be affiliated with a political party.  Independents and Republicans make up the rest of the group.  32 of the 80+ members represented public schools and school districts within Delaware.  12 more are from Delaware colleges and universities and 6 represent civic groups.  10 members of the group represent state government and   3 of the members of the steering committee directly represent the state education unions. In fact, 5 members of the group contributed to the National Education Association PAC which is the political action committee for the national teachers union and is heavily progressive.  Business and civic association members generally round out most of the rest of the list. 

Powerful Connections

Vision 2015 is not just limited to local unions, school districts, business owners, teachers and government officials, it's also got a national flare.  Kevin Hall is also a Director of “Green Dot Public Schools” which was started by Steve Barr and who is advocating for a major charter school initiative in Los Angeles.  Steve Barr is best known as co-founder of “Rock the Vote” with former Recording Industry Association of America chair and CEO Hillary B. Rosen.  Rosen is also an editor at large for the Huffington Post.  Andrew L. Stern President of SEIU is also a director of Rock the Vote.  Also part of Green Dot is Jeff Shell who was a Fundraiser for Obama and who is the programming president for Comcast.  Noah Mahmet, a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton is also a director of Green Dot.
The Broad Foundation was founded by billionaire Los Angeles progressive Eli Broad.  Mr. Broad joined fellow billionaire progressive George Soros as a part of groups brought together to purchase the Tribune companies and the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Eli and his wife Edyth are major sustaining donors to the Rockwood Leadership Institute  whose mission is to train leaders in the progressive movement.  “Rockwood's constituency includes a diverse set of leaders working on national, state-based, regional and local progressive social change initiatives” which includes former Executive Director of MoveOn.org Eli Pariser.  Broad is also a Trustee of the “Center for the Study of the American Presidency”, a Washington based think tank of which Leon Panetta is also a trustee.  Panetta is the Obama CIA director and worked for the Clinton administration.  Broad Foundations, another group started by Eli Broad, donated between $1 million and $5 million dollars to the Clinton Foundation.  Broad Foundations governor Jay Wintrob is also Executive Vice President of American International Group.  AIG of course is the recipient of bailout money and donated between $250,000 and $500,000 to the Bill Clinton foundation.  Another Broad Foundations governor Larry Summers was the Treasury Secretary under Bill Clinton and is now the Director of the National Economic Council to President Obama. 
The NEA is a part of the steering committee for “Healthcare for America Now” and the DSEA is the Delaware chapter of the NEA.   The President of the NEA Reg Weaver is a director of “People for the American Way” which is a progressive public policy institute.  It was founded by Norman Lear who was the Executive Producer of “The Princess Bride”, “Fried Green Tomatoes” and “All in the Family”.  He is the Founder of “Declare Yourself” and other “non-partisan” young voter websites.  Lear is also a council of advisors member for “Global Green USA” whose mission is “Founded in 1994 by activist and philanthropist Diane Meyer Simon, Global Green is the American arm of Green Cross International (GCI), which was created by President Mikhail S. Gorbachev to foster a global value shift toward a sustainable and secure future by reconnecting humanity with the environment.”  You may remember the name Gorbachev if you are over 25 years of age.  Perhaps even younger people have heard the following quote from President Ronald Reagan “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”  That’s right; GCI was started by COMMUNIST RUSSIAN FORMER PRESIDENT Mikhail Gorbachev.  Other board members of “Global Green USA” are Leonardo DiCaprio and Jane Goodall.

Jayni Chase is a council of advisors member of GG USA.  She’s also a director of the eco terrorist group “Friends of the Earth”.  FoE President Brent Blackwelder is also a Director of the “League of Conservation Voters” which is a member of “America Votes”.  America Votes is the centerpiece of a permanent progressive campaign infrastructure nationally and in the states.  America Votes members include: AFL-CIO, Move-On.org, the Sierra Club, Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Nueva Vista Group (a lobbying firm that advocates for SEIU, ACLU, BCBS, Freddie Mac and the Ella Baker Center), People for the American Way, League of Young Voters, NAACP, Planned Parenthood, American Federation of Teachers, Emily’s List and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.  Some of you may be asking why the Ella Baker Center sounds familiar.   It was founded by none other than the former White House green jobs Czar, 9-11 Truther and avowed Communist Van Jones.  You may also be interested to know that the “Free Mumia Movement” to free the murderer of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner was a project by the Ella Baker Center. 
Perkins Cole, another member of America Votes represents Nintendo, Microsoft, AT&T, Craigslist, Google, Boeing and the Navajo Nation to name a few.  The founder and former President of America Votes is Cecile Richards (also President of Planned Parenthood, White House visitor and former chief of staff to Nancy Pelosi) whose husband Kirk Adams is the Chief of Staff to SEIU.  Current America Votes President Martin Frost is a former Congressman and former chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.  He is currently a political commentator for Fox News, an attorney with Polsinelli, Shalton, Flanigan and Suelthaus (a major lobbying firm for everything from the United Negro College Fund to the city of Detroit Michigan) and a senior advisor to the National Democratic Institute. 
The SEIU National Political Director is Jon Youngdah is the director of “Progressive Majority” which is a PAC for progressive (liberal) candidates.  The chairman of “Progressive Majority” is Robert L. Borosage who is also a director of “The Apollo Alliance”.  “The Apollo Alliance” is the group that helped to write the stimulus bill and was founded by Senator Maria Cantwell, Congressman Jesse Jackson, Leo Gerard (President of the United Steel Workers Union) and Carl Pop (Executive Director of the Sierra Club).  The groups directors include members of the following groups: Global Green USA, Energy Innovations, Institute for America's Future, CTSG, Young Apollo, Sierra Club, Apollo Alliance, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Ceres , Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS), United Steelworkers of America (USWA).  The New York chapter of the Apollo Alliance is run by former Weather Underground co-founderer (with Bill Ayers) Jeff Jones who was part of the group who helped to write the stimulus package.  Another Jones also served with the Apollo Alliance.  Van Jones, former green jobs Czar also was a director of the group.  Also tied to the Apollo Alliance via Directorship is John Podesta who is tied in to just about every major progressive through the Clinton or Obama campaigns.  Podesta is the President and CEO of the Center for America Progress which is largely bankrolled by George Soros .
New Castle County Government lobbying firm is Johnson, Madigan, Peck, Boland and Stewart which is former lobbying firm for NYSE and Fannie Mae.  Jill Biden’s chief of staff is Catherine Russell whose husband Tom Donilon is a former member of the Obama transition team, former lobbyist AND Executive VP for Fannie Mae, former chief of staff to the U.S. State Department, participant in 2008 Bilderberg conference and former partner of O’Melveny & Myers LLP.  Currently Mr. Donilon is  a director of “American Friends of Bilderberg”, trustee of the Brookings Institution, governing council member of “Miller Center of Public Affairs” AND White House Deputy National Security Advisor. O’melveny & Myers is a lobbying firm in DC for Hess, the IOC and Occidental Petroleum Group among others.  Occidental Petroleum’s Chairman and CEO is Ray Irani who is a former Director of KB Home.  Also a former director of KB Home is James Johnson.  KB Home’s founder?  Eli Broad.
 

*UPDATE*

No reporter or news writer worth his or her salt would be able to do their best work without leads.  Since this report I have recieved even more leads on the ties from Delaware's education system to Eli Broad and his progressive educational organization.  Founders Values member Diane wrote in to ensure that you are all aware that Dr. Lillian Lowery is tied directly to the Broad Foundation and is even a graduate of their administrator training.  She also wanted to let those of you familiar with the Christina School District's financial problems know that Joey Wise, former Superintendant of the Christina School District who was found to have improperly used school district funds for personal use.   "Wise's use of a Christina school district credit card from July 2003 to November 2005 was inconsistent with district and state policies, the audit said. During that time, Wise charged more than $75,000. Some of the money was used for meals and gift certificates, but the auditor's report doesn't specify how much may have been spent improperly."  It appears that Mr. Wise's spending problems didn't end in Delaware and eventually caused problems for him in Florida where he was forced to resign.  Now, Dr. Wise is working for Atlantic Research Partners, a group that "is particularly focused on leadership training, and on research and analysis of best practices in the American pre-K through college-level education professions."

Religion and Politics Examiner Keith Wimer has also done a report on "Safe" school czar Kevin Jennings.  The pedophile who started GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network).  You may remember GLSEN from Sean Hannity, Michelle Malkin and Glenn Beck profiles who have explained that the GLSEN suggested reading list contains child porn materials including graphic descriptions of Kindergarten and First graders engaging in sexual activities, bathroom sex between school age children and the promotion of promiscuity and prostitution among other things.  Please don't ignore this.  It's imperative that we know what we are up against.