Astroturfing is a form of advocacy often in support of a political or corporate agenda designed to give the appearance of a “grassroots” movement. The goal of such campaigns is to disguise the efforts of a political and/or commercial entity as an independent public reaction to some political entity—a politician, political group, product, service or event. The term is a derivation of AstroTurf, a brand of synthetic carpeting designed to look like natural grass

Note the section that reads “designed to give the appearance of a grassroots movement” as you read this CraigsList ad that was originally posted here.

Seattle schools were dealt a devastating blow today as a result of state-forced collective bargaining practices. A Dallas-based nonprofit, National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI), was prepared to award a $13.2 million grant to assist Seattle schools with their Advanced Placement programs in math and science, allowing students to earn college credit while still in high school

A full 22% of that grant money was to be merit-based pay to teachers who participate in the specified Advanced Placement programs – that’s $2,640,000!

The problem? NMSI wanted to pay the money directly to participating teachers, but Washington state law mandating collective bargaining between the UNIONS and school districts would not allow for such a pay scheme. Negotiations to resolve the conflicts between the grant and the law failed.

The EFF provides the scoop in this short video.

Who is the EFF? See Evergreen Freedom Foundation at Ballotpedia.org