This book goes deep behind the scenes of school privatization campaigns to expose the complex networks of funding that sustain these efforts - often hidden from the view of the public. Using the example of a 2016 Massachusetts charter school referendum, Cunningham shows how wealthy individuals support charter school expansion through so-called "social welfare" organizations, thereby obscuring the true sources of funding while influencing major public policy votes. With vast wealth and a political agenda, foundations have helped to reshape the reform landscape in urban education.

Maurice T. Cunningham was Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA from 1999 through 2021. He is a co-founder of the popular MassPoliticsProfs.org blog. He has received awards for his work on dark money from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees and the Massachusetts Teachers Association.