Doylestown Venture Capitalist Paul Martino Funds $500,000 Effort to Ensure Pandemic-Related School Closings Don’t Happen Again

By

businessman
Image via Elizabeth Robertson at The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Martino has been donating toward the races in order to enact change he sees as important.

Paul Martino, a venture capitalist parent from Doylestown, started the “Back to School PA” advocacy group in response to statewide closures of public schools because of COVID-19 concerns. The move to virtual classrooms disappointed the father of two Central Bucks School District students. And his organization is designed to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Maddie Hanna and Julia Terruso reported the details in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Martino called the pandemic-driven shutdown of in-person learning an “execution failure” of a better solution to the health crisis.

To counter the shortcomings he cites in virtual learning, Martino donated a half-million dollars to 50 political-action committees (PACs). He is eager for the contributions to effect change in local school board elections, keeping kids in classrooms where he believes they belong.

Martino’s support has observers watching closely. Absent any campaign donor limitations, they worry that supporters with vast resources could further polarize school-board politics.

Martino says his donations fund a “big tent” of candidates.

He cites his donation to a Black progressive PAC that works to keep schools open because of the negative impacts their closures have had in urban areas.

Martino says he’s funding a grassroots effort, not pushing a top-down agenda.

“If me writing a check to a concerned parent in Carbon County is leading to toxic national politics, then there’s something much more broken than the writing of that check,” he said.

More on Paul Martino’s efforts to keep in-person learning in effect is at The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Connect With Your Community

Subscribe for stories that matter!

"*" indicates required fields

Hidden
BT Yes
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Advertisement