Betsy DeVos-tied Organization Is Sending Hit Pieces Out On Torrey Harris. It’s Time We Get His Back
The late John Lewis talked about making “Good Trouble.” For society to move forward, people have to have the courage to make the kind of trouble that gets the powers that be upset. That is what Torrey Harris has been doing in his bid to unseat Rep. John DeBerry. Well, he has gotten the attention of the folks in power.
Today, residents of District 90 received a hit piece in their mail about Torrey. We aren’t going to give free publicity by reprinting the mailer (odds are if you live in District 90 you got your own copy). Instead, we want to talk about who sent the hit piece and why.
The mailer comes from the Tennessee Federation for Children PAC. So, what is that? It is a political group that gets its funding from a variety of sources, but the largest contributors over the last several years are Alice and Jim Walton (of the Walmart Waltons), Nashville attorney Lee Barfield, II (who is also a board member for American Federation for Children) and the American Federation for Children Action Fund, Inc.
So, what is the American Federation for Children? It is an organization with deep ties to Betsy DeVos (She served as chair of its Board of Directors until becoming Secretary of Education). It advocates for vouchers in education and it was one of the driving forces behind Gov. Lee’s “Education Savings Account” legislation.
But why would Walton and DeVos care who wins a state Rep race in Tennessee ? Why has this PAC spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Tennessee races in recent years? This is about taking control in who makes education decisions away from parents in Shelby County and delivering control to politically connected insiders in Nashville. This is about creating a market upon which they can profit.
These folks had a faithful foot soldier with John DeBerry. When the Legislature forced through its voucher program (which only applied to Shelby and Davidson Counties) during a controversial session that is currently being investigated by the TBI for allegations of vote buying, DeBerry was the deciding vote. The legislation DeBerry and the GOP passed has now been found to be unconstitutional, but you can be sure that these folks aim to make another attempt at a revised bill next session. These folks need John DeBerry to stay in power for them to have another shot at forcing vouchers onto Shelby County.
At the same time, in his advocacy for fully funding public schools and in his opposition to any attempt to force vouchers on Shelby County, Torrey Harris has ticked these people off. He has shown that he is not for sale. So now they are unleashing their money to try and stop him. Torrey is fighting billionaires to keep education choices in the hands of Shelby County parents. We need to get his back.
Why is her organization attacking Torrey Harris?