Nirav Shah's alarming PAC ties to school voucher programs
As someone working in higher ed, I was pretty alarmed to learn candidate for Governor Nirav Shah is heavily funded by Independent Expenditure (IE) money from 314 Action. This IE just spent $650,000 on TV advertising for Shah’s campaign. Not only is 314 Action Fund a PAC used to wash AIPAC money towards other candidates down ballot across the country, their IE in Maine to support Shah is heavily funded by Education Reform Now Advocacy (aka Dems for Education Reform PAC). Shah's latest TV ad funded by 314 Action just listed Education Reform Now as their second largest donor. A quick google and I found this NYT article about how Education Reform Now is pushing for school vouchers and incentive pay structures for teachers...this is a straight up right-wing/libertarian education agenda. My mom was a public high school teacher in NH, and these are literally the same programs the right wingers and libertarians are pushing through the legislature. School voucher programs are a classic tactic to defund public education, and teacher incentive pay I personally think is just insane...teachers are already the hardest working people I know, and generally way underpaid. Anyways, as a candidate for Governor who was ranked 3rd by the Maine Education Association, I think this is pretty disqualifying for Shah and gives me no faith in the rest of his agenda. Seems pretty clear by now that establishment Dems shifting right for all these mythical middle-class suburban moderates is not how we win, let alone actually come up with real solutions for working people.