Corporate Astroturf Vultures Line Up in Memphis

As the corporate stooges of the school board waited on Tuesday evening for community members to utter their final useless pleas to keep their community schools open in Memphis, a group of fat corporate vultures had their own perch near the front in an area designated for "district officials." 

Any parent upset about public school closings should take the opportunity to spit in the face of anyone from the organizations listed in bold just below from an article from Tennessee Chalkbeat:

The school district auditorium in midtown Memphis was crowded Tuesday night, as the Shelby County school board’s debate over which schools to close before the 2014-15 school year reached its culmination. For many of the students, parents, alumni, teachers, community members, and media present, this was the last in a series of community meetings about the closings over the past two months.

Near the section of room marked for district officials, under a sign that read “Remember, it’s all about our students,” sat another group that had been to almost as many meetings as anyone in the room: Field organizers for StudentsFirst and Parent Empowerment, two school choice advocacy groups.

Representatives from school choice advocacy groups new to Memphis – Parent Empowerment and the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) – and from more-established StudentsFirst and Stand For Children attended nearly every community meeting focused on the closings this winter. . . .