David Armiak, research director with the progressive watchdog group Center for Media and Democracy, said it is impossible to compare the state school board association to WILL.
He said the association is statewide non-partisan organization “where WILL is a right-wing funded ideological group that is pushing right-wing policies.”
“They’re getting paid to do this by someone that is not educated in education or ed policy, but they are weaponizing it for the benefit of the Republican party,” Armiak said.
Armiak wrote a piece about the summit where he points out that while the funding source for WILL’s Restoring Education Policy project is not disclosed, the likely backer is the Bradley Foundation.
Since WILL was founded in 2011, the Bradley Foundation alone has provided $9.4 million — or 36 percent — of the institute’s total funding, Armiak said.
Bradley calls WILL the “MVP” of its Wisconsin network, making it the logical partner for the right-wing funder to turn to for influencing school boards in Wisconsin in 2024, Armiak said.