Independent Expenditure (IE) jumps into race for Omar Vasquez who is running for Seattle School Board, District 5. IE funded by those that seek to privatize education! NO Surprise!
On September 17, 2017 we alerted our readers to the candidacy of Omar Vasquez, who is running for Seattle School Board, District 5. Red flags began to wave when Vasquez accepted $1,000 from Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) and $1,000K from Vulcan, Inc. (Link to PDC here. See also: The stealthy campaign for charter schools found in emails of Seattle Public School employees and the candidacy of Omar Vasquez. )
Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) is a New York-based national political action committee that aims to -privatize education- Vulcan, Inc. is the Seattle-based development corporation of Microsoft confounder Paul Allen which has also been involved in efforts to privatize education. Vulcan contributed $1.5M to the “YES on 1240” campaign to privatize education by legalizing charter schools in Washington State in 2012. (Link to PDC here. See also: The Charter-Pushers: Who is Bankrolling the $8 Million Effort (and counting) to Bring Charters to Washington State? and Charter Schools in Washington State – by Hook or by Crook? )
At the time of our first report, Vasquez was a member of the state board for Summit charter schools. ” Vasquez served on the state board for Summit Public Schools, which operates three Washington charters…”
Only recently (and apparently reluctantly) did he step down from Summit’s Board. Yet he continues to receive significant infusions of money from major charter-backing enterprises.
It comes as no surprise that in the final weeks of the election, Democrats for Education Reform has contributed $20,000 to Vasquez’s campaign via an Independent Expenditure, paying for digital advertising.
Yes the battle to hijack and privatize Seattle Public Schools continues. The effort is funded by the same few political players.
Voters should be sure to stay informed and vote for the candidates who oppose privatizing our public schools and will protect our public trusts. In District 5, that means vote for Zachary DeWolf. In District 7, that means Vote for Betty Patu. And in District 4, Vote for Eden Mack.
-Dora Taylor and Carolyn Leith
Seattle Education 
Just learned from disclosure reports that Seattle School Board candidate Omar Vasquez’ campaign is receiving $20,000 as an independent expenditure from DFER for digital advrtising. We have been expecting a money bomb for his campaign. Vasquez until very recently was on the board of Summit Charter Schools and on the board of the Washington State Charter School Association. These associations were scrubbed from his biographical information earlier. He also received the endorsement of charter-friendly Seattle Times. Hope that voters can see through this. Ballots have been out since the 18th (we are an all mail in ballot state here in WA.). so if you have friends in Seattle, tell them to vote for Zachary DeWolf.