M.D. Keener | mkeener@al.com
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Two charities have poured $2.6 million into efforts to pass a ballot initiative that aims to guarantee public school funding in the state constitution. But where did that money come from?
Records reviewed by The Associated Press show at least $1.6 million of it can be pinpointed to two sources who have long been supporters of the state’s public schools: the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and former Secretary of State Dick Molpus. An unknown amount also was donated by former Netscape and FedEx executive Jim Barksdale.
The trail of money can be difficult to follow. Those three donors gave their money to the two charities, which in turn donated to a campaign committee called Better Schools, Better Jobs. All but $6,500 raised by that committee came from two charities: The Southern Education Foundation in Atlanta and the New Venture Fund in Washington.
Initiative 42 would require the state to provide “an adequate and efficient system of public schools,” and allow people to sue if funding falls short. Supporters say students are shortchanged because lawmakers don’t provide as much money as Mississippi’s school funding formula demands.
Republican lawmakers oppose the measure, saying it could give a judge control over a large portion of the state budget. They put an alternative on the ballot to require “effective” schools, without stipulating a right to sue.
The donations by nonprofits are legal. But they illustrate the problem of “dark money” in political campaigns because nonprofits don’t have to disclose donors’ identities.
“Ballot measure campaigns, in general, have even fewer restrictions than candidate campaigns, so this could prove to be a bigger problem for ballot measures,” Emily Shaw of the Sunlight Foundation said in a statement. That group advocates for transparency in elections.
Better Schools, Better Jobs would not discuss its funding sources. Campaign co-manager Jonathan Compretta said in a statement that there’s no “hidden motive.”
“People just like us from inside and outside of Mississippi recognize that our children can do better educationally,” he said.
Kellogg announced its donations to the two charities online — $500,000 to the Southern Education Foundation and $900,000 to the New Venture Fund.
Kellogg was created by the cereal company founder and is one of the nation’s largest foundations with $8.6 billion in assets. It named Mississippi one of its “priority places” in 2008 and has directed money to the state to improve education and children’s health and cut poverty.
“Mississippi children deserve more than we’re giving them,” said Joe Scantlebury, vice president for program strategy at the Michigan-based Kellogg Foundation. “We certainly can’t do it through philanthropic dollars.”
The Dick Molpus Foundation gave $100,000 each to the New Venture Fund and Southern Education Foundation in 2014, according to filings with the IRS. Molpus, a timber magnate and Democrat who lost the 1995 governor’s race after three terms as secretary of state, is a board member of the Southern Education Foundation.
“My life’s mission has been to improve the schools for the children in my home state,” Molpus wrote in an email, saying he gives to the two charities because they share that goal. Molpus also funds other pro-public school groups.
Barksdale told the AP he donated to the charities but would not say how much, and there are no public filings disclosing the sums.
“That’s between me and them,” said Barksdale, who has donated $100 million to improving literacy in Mississippi. He added: “I’m very committed to this.”
Republicans opposing the initiative criticize the New Venture Fund’s involvement. Lt Gov. Tate Reeves said it has “been engaged in an awful lot of liberal policies,” citing donations to the Clinton Global Initiative. New Venture Fund President Lee Bodner said the wide-ranging foundation does “lots of advocacy work” but isn’t partisan.
Reeves and House Speaker Philip Gunn have urged opponents of Initiative 42 to donate to a political action committee linked to a GOP-leaning group. It has yet to disclose any contributions, but announced Friday that it has begun airing television ads. Another group working against the initiative, KidsFirst Mississippi, has reported $1,700 in contributions, including $979.54 from Americans for Prosperity, the political advocacy arm of conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch.
Southern Education Foundation President Kent McGuire said Initiative 42 matches the group’s aim to advance public education. The group also gave $500,000 from its own reserves to aid Better Schools, Better Jobs.
“We don’t know whether the campaign in Mississippi will win or not, but we thought it was a really important thing to support,” McGuire said. “We don’t see anything untoward coming from that.”