How Portland Money is Buying Albany's School Board

The Political Machine Behind the GAPS Elections and the Cost of Letting Ideology Trump Academics

Let’s start with the obvious: school board races used to be sleepy affairs. Maybe a couple of yard signs, a town hall or two, and some modest community engagement. But not anymore. Welcome to the new age of hyper-politicized public education, where local school board elections are being hijacked by out-of-town money and big-city political operatives.

Take Greater Albany Public Schools (GAPS), for example. This spring, three board seats are up for grabs, and with them, control over a district that serves more than 9,000 students. But instead of a contest of ideas and merit, we’re watching a masterclass in political purchase. At the center of this drama: the Oregon Raindrop Fund, a shadowy 501(c)(4) based in Portland, flush with cash and a penchant for progressive activism.

Through a little political laundering — sorry, consulting — firm called Swift Public Affairs (also in Portland), the Raindrop Fund funneled a whopping $45,000 into Linn United PAC, a political group that's now championing three candidates: Stephanie Lunceford, Kris McLaughlin, and Kristopher Schendel. If you’re wondering what $45,000 buys you in a school board race, the answer is: a lot. $28,900 for Polling, Mailers, digital ads, polished messaging, and maybe even a few consultants whispering strategy tips into candidates' ears.

But why does a Portland-based fund care about a mid-sized school district in Linn County? Here's a hint: it's not because they're passionate about improving local reading scores. The Oregon Raindrop Fund has a track record of bankrolling progressive causes, from climate campaigns to ballot initiatives that align neatly with Democratic Party priorities. Their goal isn’t better math instruction; it’s ideological conquest, one school board at a time.

Let’s be blunt: this isn’t grassroots. This is AstroTurf.

Meanwhile, as the GAPS board turns into a political football field, Oregon's academic performance is circling the drain. The state ranks 45th or worse nationally in reading and math, despite having some of the highest per-student funding in the country. It’s like setting piles of cash on fire and then blaming the smoke for the lack of oxygen.

And what’s replacing academic rigor? A parade of social justice initiatives, gender theory debates, and activism that belongs in a university seminar, not a third-grade classroom. Parents looking for accountability and reading proficiency are getting lectures about pronouns instead.

To be fair, the candidates themselves may be sincere. But when your campaign is bankrolled by a Portland-based dark money group with political strings attached, your independence is, at best, compromised.

Let’s stop pretending this is normal. Let’s call it what it is: a political takeover of local education by people who couldn’t find Albany on a map without GPS.

This isn’t just about GAPS. It’s about the growing trend of national and statewide political organizations parachuting into local races, using deep pockets to drown out authentic local voices. The result? School boards that answer to consultants and PACs, not parents and students.

So as Albany heads to the polls, voters should ask themselves one question: Who do you want shaping your schools — your neighbors, or a well-funded activist operation based two hours up I-5? Follow the money. Then vote like your kids' education depends on it — because it does.

That’s my viewpoint.

NOTE: The organization behind the Oregon Rainbow Fund is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization, PRETC is not required to disclose its donors publicly. This classification allows the organization to engage in political activities, provided that such activities are not its primary function.