Shenna Bellows & Troy Jackson Denounce Anti-Public School Organization Bankrolling Nirav Shah TV Ads

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and former State President Troy Jackson released the following statement in response to the half million dollar ad buy to support Nirav Shah funded by Education Reform Now Advocacy Inc.:

“We are deeply disappointed to learn that Dr. Shah is being bankrolled by millionaires whose mission is diverting your tax dollars from Maine’s neighborhood public schools to private ones," said Secretary Shenna Bellows and former Senate President Troy Jackson. 

"As the first and second choice of Maine Teachers, we know our schools are already woefully underfunded — and we will never support making that worse. The group funding this ad campaign wants more voucher programs and private school subsidies, which will further drain resources from the public schools Maine children depend on. Maine's kids deserve fully funded public schools, not a privatization agenda bankrolled by out-of-state millionaires," Bellows and Jackson continued.

In recent weeks, Jackson and Bellows were both endorsed by the Maine Education Association (MEA) as their first and second choice for Governor. 

The ad was paid for by 314 Action, a political advocacy group. Under Maine law, Education Reform Now Advocacy Inc. was disclosed as one of the top three funders behind the ad. Education Reform Now Advocacy is a national organization that advocates for school choice policies, including charter schools, that divert public education funding away from Maine's neighborhood public schools.