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jeffrey yass
'This Ain't It': Pennsylvanians Slam Jay-Z's Roc Nation for School Voucher Push
"An out-of-state billionaire is pairing with a suburban Philadelphia one to try to destroy public education," said one critic.
Jun 07, 2024
As pro-public education groups plan a rally at the Pennsylvania State Capitol, educators and advocates on Friday criticized hip-hop icon Jay-Z's company Roc Nation over a campaign backing a proposed school voucher program in the commonwealth.
The campaign's "Dine & Learn" events in Philadelphia this month are intended to share information about the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success (PASS) or "Lifelife Scholarships," as supporters also call them. If approved by state legislators in the next budget, the program would put tax dollars toward "education opportunity accounts" for certain families to send their children to K-12 private schools rather than low-performing public ones.
"Just to be clear for those not in Pennsylvania, the legislation Jay-Z is supporting here is a Republican-led effort to gut public education."
"We have enjoyed such a special connection with Philadelphians, so we've made it our mission to invest in the long-term success of the city's changemakers," Roc Nation managing director of philanthropy Dania Diaz said in a statement. "Impact starts with the students and with awareness. We want to empower the youth and families with the knowledge to pursue their scholastic dreams, make their voices heard, and become the leaders of tomorrow."
While the campaign led to multiple headlines about "How Roc Nation Is Helping Underprivileged Students in Philadelphia Get Into Private Schools," some critics of putting tax money—in this case, potentially tens or hundreds of millions of dollars—toward private school tuition expressed disappointment and frustration on Friday, just weeks away from Pennsylvania's June 30 budget deadline.
"This ain't it," said the American Federation of Teachers Pennsylvania (AFTPA) on social media, posting a photo of Jay-Z—whose given name is Shawn Carter—with suburban Philadelphia multibillionaire Jeffrey Yass, a Republican megadonor with a history of using his money to push for school vouchers and the defeat progressive political candidates.
"Don't get it twisted, PASS is a Yassified school choice/school voucher bill," one social media user wrote.
Other critics also mentioned Yass. Phil Gentry, an organizer with West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools, referenced reporting that the billionaire is being considered as a potential Treasury secretary if former Republican President Donald Trump beats Democratic President Joe Biden in the November election.
"Just to be clear for those not in Pennsylvania," Gentry noted, "the legislation Jay-Z is supporting here is a Republican-led effort to gut public education, spearheaded by future Trump Cabinet member Jeffrey Yass."
Challenging the framing of some of the news coverage about the Roc Nation campaign, Philadelphia public interest lawyer Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg said, "As Pennsylvania is on the verge of transforming the most inequitable school funding system in the nation, an out-of-state billionaire is pairing with a suburban Philadelphia one to try to destroy public education instead."
The attorney highlighted that the hip-hop
billionaire's company is pushing for vouchers as Democrats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives are "working to pass a $5.1 billion transformation" to help the commonwealth's poorest school districts, sharing a report from the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Urevick-Ackelsberg also circulated criticism from New York Times Magazine journalist Nicole Hannah-Jones, who said that "voucher programs have not been shown to improve results for poor Black children because most cannot get into high-quality private schools."
"Read the fine print. All of the money is coming from taxpayers," she continued. Roc Nation's "involvement is to convince poor Black parents to leave the public schools."
While PASS advocates argue the program will not take money from public schools because it "will be fulfilled by government funds from a separate line item and will not reduce the overall budget to public education programming," Hannah-Jones pushed back.
"It is a lie that these programs do not take from public school funding. Fewer kids in the classroom means fewer dollars to the school," the journalist stressed. "This is a windfall to the city's private schools at the expense of the public ones that most kids attend."
Citing research by Michigan State University professor Josh Cowen—the author of The Privateers, a forthcoming book on school vouchers—Hannah Jones added: "Stop playing with us. Not only do students who go to private schools on vouchers not perform better, 1 out of 5 [leave] the private school and actually see improved academic results by returning to the public school."
Other critics referenced an award-winning sitcom created by Philadelphia-born writer and actress Quinta Brunson, with National Press Foundation fellow Bradford William Davis saying that a "new Abbott Elementary villain just dropped."
Dena Driscoll, a
parent in the city, said that "Jay-Z is like 'defund Abbott Elementary' and for real though my actual Philadelphian children's public school. Lifeline Scholarships mean most of our children are left to drown."
The battle over including the program in Pennsylvania's 2024-25 budget follows a similar fight last year. As the
Capital-Starreported in May: "The PASS program was initially supported by Gov. Josh Shapiro during partisan debates over the state budget last year, but House Democrats opposed it. While the version of the budget that passed the Senate included funding for the voucher program, House Democrats refused to pass it unless Shapiro agreed to veto the item. Ultimately, that's what happened."
When the Democratic governor
unveiled his budget proposal in February, he called school vouchers "unfinished business."
While Roc Nation is now behind the push for PASS, people across Pennsylvania continue to organize against school voucher programs. AFTPA pointed out Friday: "We're literally holding a rally on Monday against this. Join us!"
The
rally, planned for noon local time on June 10, will involve "a coalition of pro-public education labor unions, organizations, and advocates," organizers said in a statement. Parents, students, retirees, and group leaders "will speak on the need for the General Assembly to fulfill its constitutional duty by funding public education and rejecting any effort to divert funds away from public schools through private school vouchers."
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Defeating 'MAGA Dark Money,' Summer Lee Wins Primary in Landslide
"This is a huge testament to our collective strength and resilience as a progressive movement," said the executive director of Justice Democrats.
Apr 24, 2024
U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, a member of the progressive "Squad," won the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District on Tuesday, fending off an opponent whose campaign was backed by a billionaire Republican megadonor and ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Lee, a vocal critic of the Netanyahu government and leading supporter of a cease-fire in Gaza, handily defeated Bhavini Patel, a borough councilmember in Edgewood, Pennsylvania whose effort to unseat the progressive incumbent was bankrolled by Jeffrey Yass, the state's richest man. Patel actively courted Republican and pro-Israel voters, characterizing Lee as "fringe."
With more than 95% of the vote counted, Lee is ahead of Patel by more than 20 percentage points.
"I am so humbled and proud to win my first primary reelection to be the congresswoman for this incredible district I've spent my life fighting for," Lee said after the race was called in her favor. "Our campaign was built on a record of delivering for our democracy, defending our most fundamental rights, and expanding our vision for what is politically possible for our region's most marginalized communities."
"Our victory is a rejection of right-wing interests and Republican billionaires using corporate super PACs to target Black and brown Democrats in our primaries—be it AIPAC or Moderate PAC or any other MAGA billionaire in Democratic clothing," Lee added. "Western PA is the blueprint for the future all of America deserves."
Opposing genocide is good politics and good policy. #CeasefireNOW https://t.co/A7pnJNskWS
— Summer Lee (@SummerForPA) April 24, 2024
Through the misleadingly named Moderate PAC, Yass—a prolific tax dodger who has been floated as a possible treasury secretary pick if former President Donald Trump wins another term—spent hundreds of thousands of dollars boosting Patel and attacking Lee.
Rahna Epting, executive director of MoveOn Political Action, said that by ushering Lee to victory, residents of Pennsylvania's 12th District "soundly rejected MAGA dark money."
"MoveOn members are ready to defeat this dangerous flood of dark-money spending against progressive champions and ensure that we continue to elect working-class people to Congress," said Epting.
"Now that it's clear Summer won her primary, AIPAC's super PAC has already officially failed at their one goal for this cycle: taking out the entire Squad."
During her 2022 campaign, Lee faced and overcame huge spending by the powerful pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC via its super PAC, the United Democracy Project. But the organization opted to stay on the sidelines this time around, even as it plans to spend $100 million to defeat progressives in this year's cycle amid growing public opposition to Israel's war on Gaza.
"They had every intention of spending in this race—but they didn't, because they realized they would likely lose," Justice Democrats executive director Alexandra Rojas wrote in an email late Tuesday. "And that is because all of us had Summer's back and supported her campaign to out-organize AIPAC in every way."
"This is a huge testament to our collective strength and resilience as a progressive movement," said Rojas. "Now that it's clear Summer won her primary, AIPAC's super PAC has already officially failed at their one goal for this cycle: taking out the entire Squad."
While AIPAC ultimately sat out the Pennsylvania race, it is devoting considerable resources to ousting other progressive lawmakers, including Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.).
The pro-Israel lobbying group has endorsed Bush challenger Wesley Bell, calling him a "strong advocate for the U.S.-Israel relationship." As The Guardianreported last week, Bell has "raised more than $650,000 in earmarked contributions through the group Democracy Engine Inc. PAC—a donation platform that allows unpopular PACs to obscure their donations and lists AIPAC as a client on its LinkedIn page."
AIPAC is the largest donor to Bowman challenger George Latimer, who has supported Israel's war on Gaza and denied that Israel is committing genocide. The Democratic primary for New York's 16th Congressional District is on June 25.
We must be clear-eyed about what's next. @JamaalBowmanNY & @CoriBush are facing an existential threat from AIPAC, their GOP megadonors, and the politicians willing to compromise on core Democratic values to try to take a school principal & nurse out of Congress. #ProtectTheSquad
— Justice Democrats (@justicedems) April 24, 2024
Michele Weindling, political director of the youth-led Sunrise Movement, said Tuesday that following Lee's victory, "we're ramping up to take on AIPAC in Jamaal Bowman's race."
"With a candidate like George Latimer willing to sell their lies to the district, we are going to prove once again that a politician's commitment to their community beats dark money every time," said Weindling. "Whether it's in Pittsburgh or New York, Minneapolis or St. Louis, our generation is going to send billionaires packing and reelect the squad."
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Summer Lee Calls Out Primary Opponent for Taking Right-Wing Money
"Her entire campaign is backed by Republicans, yet she says that I'm not a good enough Democrat," Lee said of Bhavini Patel during a debate Thursday night.
Apr 05, 2024
In a debate on Thursday night, "Squad" member and progressive Pennsylvania Rep. Summer Lee called out her Democratic primary opponent Bhavini Patel for taking money from Republican megadonors, including Jeffrey Yass.
Her remarks came the day after news broke that Yass had given more money to a super PAC supporting Patel Patel, after initially donating to the group in 2022 in support of conservative Democratic Rep. Jared Golden (Maine). Also on Thursday, 250 constituents from Pennsylvania's 12th District wrote to Patel urging her to disavow Yass and other Republican donors.
"Her entire campaign is backed by Republicans, yet she says that I'm not a good enough Democrat," Lee said on the debate stage.
"It feels like she is implying that there is enough room for Joe Manchin, but not a Black woman fighting for her own community," Lee continued.
"No candidate running in the Democratic primary should be primarily funded by Republican donors working to elect Trump."
During her remarks, Lee said Patel was "outwardly calling for people who are Republicans to vote for her."
"She is now backed by Jeffrey Yass, who is the richest man in Pennsylvania, who has spent all of his money eroding public education," Lee added. "He has eroded abortion rights, and right now he is on the shortlist to be Treasury secretary for Donald Trump."
News of the relationship between Yass and Patel first emerged last month, when the so-called Moderate PAC ran an ad backing the Edgewood, Pennsylvania, councilmember. Moderate PAC's only donor for all of 2022 was Susquehanna International Group, a trading firm that Yass co-founded.
Then, on Wednesday, Moderate PAC's president Ty Strong told Politico that Yass had donated additional funds in recent weeks after Strong spoke to him about the primary campaign against Lee.
"I went to Jeff Yass and made a proposal," Strong told Politico. "He knew nothing about Summer… He's a really wealthy guy, so he made a donation in line with his wealth. But there's other Pittsburgh people that are now seeing this and doing the same thing. And so it's not Jeff Yass, it's me and Pittsburgh who realized that this far-left member shouldn't be representing a D-plus-eight district."
Yet several district members are concerned that Yass is not the only Republican seeking to influence a Democratic primary. In their letter, the 250 constituents noted that Patel's only Federal Election Commission filing to date shows that more than 60% of her primary donors had also given over $100 million to MAGA Republicans, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Nikki Haley, and election deniers like Republican Reps. Scott Perry and Mike Kelly, both of Pennsylvania.
"Your Republican donors are part of the plan to pass a national abortion ban; attack our LGBTQ+ siblings; bankroll Big Pharma and the NRA; tear away our access to healthcare, workers' rights, voting rights; and ultimately end democracy in America," the letter reads. "They are actively undermining our democracy, promoting discrimination and hate, and endangering the lives and well-being of our communities."
The District 12 voters also pointed to reporting by The Intercept that Patel told potential donors at a fundraiser that her campaign would encourage Republicans and independents to register as Democrats to vote against Lee.
The constituents said they were writing to Patel to "express grave concern" about appeals to Republican donors and voters.
"This is a craven and undemocratic ploy to unseat Congresswoman Summer Lee," they said. "The involvement of Republican donors in your campaign is deceitful and deeply hypocritical. It undermines any hope of earning the trust of Democratic voters and the communities you claim to be running to serve. Accepting financial support from those who actively work against our values is unacceptable and incompatible with the responsibilities of a Democratic representative. We deserve better."
Lee also faces the threat of right-wing money being laundered through the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which has promised to spend $100 million to unseat Lee and other Squad members. Lee has been outspoken against Israel's genocide in Gaza and co-sponsored legislation calling for a cease-fire as early as mid-October. However, AIPAC also spent more than $2 million to unseat Lee in the 2022 election through its United Democracy Project (UDP) super PAC.
In response to Lee's debate performance, former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner applauded her for "exposing the AIPAC grift for what it is: GOP-funded candidates who encourage Republicans to vote in blue seat primaries against progressives who dare to stand up for their communities."
While Yass had donated more money than anyone else to outside spending groups during the 2024 U.S. campaign season—shelling out more than $46 million to right-leaning groups—he has not given money to either AIPAC or UDP, Haaretz reported in March.
However, the 250 District 12 constituents said that Patel had sought the endorsement of UDP.
"No candidate running in the Democratic primary should be primarily funded by Republican donors working to elect Trump," the group wrote.
The constituents called on Patel to "take immediate and transparent action, pledging not to encourage Republicans and independents to re-register in our primaries and publicly demand that a Republican-funded Super PAC like AIPAC not spend money in our Democratic primary."
"The integrity of our democratic process and the voters' trust in PA-12 are at stake," they concluded.
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