Chapter 4: Silencing Critics - From FBI to AI
They changed tactics after the failed attempt to weaponize the DOJ, FBI, and other agencies against parents who spoke up at school board meetings
The COVID-19 pandemic presented two distinct opportunities in public education. On one hand, it allowed the Partnership for the Future of Learning (the secretive coalition I call the EdIlluminati) to accelerate the radical transformation of public school systems, embedding their concepts into documents like the U.S. Department of Education’s ED COVID-19 HANDBOOK: Roadmap to Reopening Safely and Meeting All Students’ Needs. Page two of the handbook shows how they did this, with Donna Harris-Aikens being an active member of the EdIlluminati during her time in the Department of Education.
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On the other hand, the distance learning during pandemic also gave parents a window into what their children were being exposed to. Parents started asking questions about radical and divisive lessons and content they were seeing. Then they went to school board meetings, often for the first time, to ask the school board for help. This led to parents collaborating on ways to raise awareness of their concerns, and it was happening all across the country.
This proved to be a significant obstacle to the EdIlluminati’s agenda, so they took action. This was when Chip Slaven, Interim Executive Director & CEO for the National School Boards Association, sent the now infamous Sept. 29, 2021 letter to President Biden soliciting, “the expertise and resources of the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Secret Service, and its National Threat Assessment Center” in a clear move to intimidate parents and disrupt the groups they were forming.
This letter was immediately followed by supporting statements from the National Association for Secondary School Principals, American Federation of Teachers, and the National Education Association (all members of the EdIlluminati of course). However, this effort blew up in their faces. This Washington Post story covers the timeline, the subsequent finger-pointing and blame-shifting, and Chip Slaven’s termination from the NSBA that November.
Parents Defending Education’s press release on June 23, 2022 provided an update to the post-letter fallout:
“30 states have distanced themselves from the NSBA’s letter”
“26 states have taken further action - to withdraw membership, participation, or dues from NSBA”
Clearly the head-on approach backfired. While Slaven and the NSBA took the fall for this, the EdIlluminati coalition had remained safely in the shadows.
Silencing critics with AI
“The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting” — Sun Tzu 1
The EdIlluminati still had a growing “parent problem” to deal with. To avoid making the same mistake, they took a more covert approach. They embraced the power of Generative AI, the same technology behind popular tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot.
They developed a tool on an AI platform capable of quickly scouring the web, news sites, and social media for information on their targets. This technology enabled them to conduct opposition research in minutes, a process that previously took days or weeks. They extended this capability to their partners, allowing their extensive network of activists to rapidly produce research—better described as misinformed hit pieces—to discredit opposing parents by labeling them as right-wing extremists, anti-LGBTQ+ hatemongers, and more.
It gets worse. They aren’t just creating these hit pieces in response to parent pushback, they are proactively targeting and discrediting people before they speak up. In this short clip from a recent EdIlluminati Zoom meeting, you can see and hear how proud they are of this weapon they’ve created and how it’s already been used.
This is the quote from that short video segment:
“There was a situation where a superintendent was coming under fire from anti-trans activists, I should say anti-trans zealots maybe, I'm not sure exactly the best way to say it. But that that superintendent was, we were able to provide, we had predicted who would cause the issue, we provided research within moments of her requesting it, and updated it within 24 hours. And she was able to use that, not to necessarily influence public opinion, because it's a really tough moment and tough topic, but she was able to influence her school board members to do the right thing using the research." — Jennifer Kotting
The situation the host was referring to was in Oregon. If you open the full video and watch the final two minutes, you’ll see Angelica Jongco, Deputy Managing Attorney at Public Advocates in California (and EdIlluminati member since 4/26/2017), express her interest in this “research”. It’s unclear just how far this has spread by now.
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Before I share an example of the research they produced, let’s see the mastermind behind this weapon of mass discreditation.
Georgia Undergrad Student by Day, Protector of Oregon Educators by Night
Meet Julian Fortuna: youth organizer, activist, undergrad student at the University of Georgia, and co-founder of Right Track Analytics LLC (website / business registry).
Julian was contracted in September 2023 by the Coalition of Oregon School Administrators, the umbrella organization over four union organizations representing school executives, principals, and other administrators. He was likely hired by Shelly Reggiani, COSA’s Senior Director of Learning, Equity, and Communications. Shelly joined the EdIlluminati in September 2023 as well.
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The screenshot above shows the detailed experience on his LinkedIn page, which has since been removed.
Julian shares an example of his research, and it’s… me?
I was able to obtain a copy of a November 8, 2023 post on the EdIlluminati’s private message board, and starting on page two you’ll see Julian sharing more about this research tool and an example of its output.
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You can see the entire output of this research he did on me at kumu.io/edilluminati/jeff-myers. I made this copy of Julian’s version, kumu.io/righttrack/jeff-myers, in case he tries to delete this too.
You can click on the various circles to read more information about this connection he made to me. It’s pretty impressive how much he found on me, but it’s equally unimpressive how many errors are in here, not to mention the heavy bias.
For example, his research included information for a different Jeff Myers, a police officer in Portland, OR.
In another example of his flawed research, someone commented on a post I had written, and his tool connected it to me. My kids don’t go to Central Oregon schools.
Lets wrap this up by addressing the bias. I know my own views a lot better than Julian Fortuna and his AI tool, and I’m not an extremist. Who should you believe?
Can AI be biased?
Absolutely, and it’s easy to do!
Here’s an example you can try for yourself on ChatGPT or any number of other tools out there. I opened ChatGPT and typed in two prompts (aka questions). You can see how I could easily manipulate the output based on how I worded the prompt.
Prompt 1: Can you write a brief statement, 3 sentences, about the purpose of the organization Moms for Liberty that would appeal to someone with conversative values?
ChatGPT’s Response: Moms for Liberty is dedicated to empowering parents to advocate for their children's education and defend parental rights in schools. We stand for transparency in educational content, promoting traditional values, and ensuring a balanced curriculum free from political indoctrination. Join us in our mission to protect the freedoms and future of our next generation.
Prompt 2: Now instead write a negative statement about Moms for Liberty that would appeal to someone with progressive values.
ChatGPT’s Response: Moms for Liberty promotes regressive agendas that undermine diversity and inclusion in education, often pushing for censorship and limiting access to comprehensive, fact-based curriculums. Their actions frequently stifle progressive educational reforms and suppress the voices of marginalized communities. Stand against their efforts to restrict the freedom to learn and the development of a truly inclusive and equitable educational system.
Finally, I must say it was disgusting to see how proud and smug Julian was when this tool was discussed. He either doesn’t grasp how damaging this can be to someone’s life and reputation, or he does grasp it and simply doesn’t care. Either way, he should probably spend more time on his school work and a whole lot less time with the EdIlluminati. He’s just a kid, and they’re using him.
Addendum: Resources to share and use
Subscribe to this Substack and share it on all your social pages (and with your elected representatives!)
Use the EdIlluminati People Database to see who is in your neck of the woods and ask them about their involvement in this secret coalition
Watch a couple of their videos to understand their inner-workings
Check out the EdIlluminati Document Library and scan through a few documents, newsletters, and emails
Contact me with tips, questions, links to related content, etc.
Sun Tzu. (n.d.). The Art of War. (L. Giles, Trans.). Retrieved from Project Gutenberg