Whitney Tilson's School Reform Blog: November Elections

It's a big day tomorrow, so remember to vote. Below is DFER's "Hot List", with key races for Senate in Colorado (vote for Michael Bennet, plus Hickenlooper for Gov.) and Governor of Rhode Island (vote for Frank Caprio, plus Gloria Raimondo for Treasurer and Taveras and McKee for mayors of Providence and Cumberland). Finally, if you're in NY, please vote for Republican Harry Wilson for Comptroller. Polls show his bid to unseat DiNapoli to be a dead heat.

Democrats for Education Reform has three quick things you can do between now and election day to save the education planet:

1. Look at your busy calendar for tomorrow and absolutely, positively make sure there is time built in to go out and vote. You are way too important to get a slide here, muchacho. Progress is counting on you.

2. Gobble up as much of your kids' Halloween candy as you can today. That sugar will hurt their ability to compete with students overseas. (I saw a Powerpoint somewhere that proves this point, so eat away.)

3. Some of the education reform candidates on our "Hot List" are in neck-and-neck type races. (Michael Bennet's Senate race in Colorado could be one of the closest statewide races we'll see in years.) PLEASE CONSIDER A LAST-MINUTE CONTRIBUTION TO HELP ALL OF OUR PRIORITY CANDIDATES WITH THE FINAL GET-OUT-THE-VOTE PUSH VIA DFER'S "HOT LIST" PAGE ON ACT BLUE.

Whether you give $1000 or $10, this is where the rubber meets the road and collectively, education reformers can make a huge difference.

Technologically, there are a few more key races that we couldn't simply add to that handy "Hot List" page. But you can get directly to those campaign websites from the "Hot List" page and can give there. (I'm about to contribute a small amount to all four of these important races, in addition to the others on our "Hot List.")

So please show some ed reform love to Andrea Corso, candidate for Sacramento School Board, Judith Cruz, candidate for Houston School Board, Dan McKee, Mayor of Cumberland, RI, and Angel Taveras, candidate for Mayor of Providence. Please click here to learn more about these municipal-level leaders.

If you're too busy/lazy/disinterested to click through, the list of DFER priority races includes:

1. U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, Colorado.

2. Frank Caprio, for Governor of Rhode Island

3. Chris Coons, for U.S. Senate in Delaware. (He's not a witch either.)

4. Andrew Cuomo, for Governor of New York.

5. Bill Ferguson, for Maryland State Senate.

6. John Hickenlooper, for Governor of Colorado.

7. Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, of New York.

8. State Senator Craig Johnson, of New York.

9. Rep. Tom Perriello, of Virginia

10. Gina Raimondo, for State Treasurer of Rhode Island.

11. Dan Seals, for U.S. House, out of Illinois.