CLEVELAND — Who paid for a new commercial aimed at selling the public on the Cleveland Metropolitan School District's consolidation plan?
It's a mystery.
News 5 Investigators found the Building Brighter Futures ad was funded by "dark money" — anonymous donors whose identities remain hidden from the public.
The ad, which is currently airing on local radio and television stations, features Mayor Justin Bibb describing why the district needs to close and merge schools.
However, when we asked who paid for the commercial, neither the mayor nor the school district provided a direct answer.
'It's the Right Thing to Do'
We found Burges and Burges Strategists, a well-known Cleveland police firm, bought the ad time. Their president said they were paid by a newly created nonprofit called "It's the Right Thing to Do."
However, that's where we hit a dead end.
"It's the Right Thing to Do" is registered as a 501(c)(4), which means it doesn't have to publicly disclose its donors.
Catherine Turcer, executive director of Common Cause Ohio, a nonpartisan government watchdog organization, said Mayor Bibb should encourage the donors to come forward.
"He was willing to get in front of a camera and say what he believed in — and he believes in the consolidation of the schools," she said. "It's up to him now to ask the folks that are the donors to the ads to step up."
Dark Money
Otherwise, the public will remain in the dark about who's paying for the push to consolidate the city's schools.
"The only way to get this information is for someone to share it — and that is the definition of dark money, that's the definition of secret money," Turcer said.
Turcer said it's "sad" that dark money, which is commonly used in elections, is now being used in a local public policy debate.
"We all deserve better — so that we can consider the motivations of the people that are paying for the ad," she said.
"Why is... a secret?"
The lack of transparency also concerns parents like Krystal Swiney, whose son is a fourth-grader at Artemus Ward on Cleveland's west side.
"If it's so good for Cleveland, if it's so good for our kids' future, why are we hiding that?" Swiney said.
"Why is it such a secret? That's not how you're supposed to do things," she said.
Swiney already knows what it's like to experience a school closing.
Her son previously attended Newton D. Baker School of Arts, which permanently closed in June.
She said her son has special needs, and that changing schools has been challenging for him and her family.
"If we keep closing these schools and taking these kids away from each other and the little families that they build... I can feel there's going to be more kids like him, just get lost in the system," Swiney said.
CMSD is moving forward with the consolidation plan known as Building Brighter Futures.
The Board of Education approved the plan earlier this month. It includes closing 18 buildings and merging 29 schools. The city says the plan is expected to save $30 million.
