Michael Bennet and the Billionaire Boys Club.

Thanks to DFER Watch.

The story broke in the NY Times this morning.

Democratic Party Senator Michael Bennet, who is up for election, was the superintendent of Denver’s public schools.

In 2008, at the time he was superintendent, the district owed the teachers $400 million in promised pension contributions.

JP Morgan Chase offered what seemed to be a perfect solution. The bankers said that the school system could raise $750 million in an exotic transaction that would eliminate the pension gap and save tens of millions of dollars annually in debt costs — money that could be plowed back into Denver’s classrooms, starved in recent years for funds.

The scheme was not unlike the ones that JP Morgan and other big banks had offered to home buyers. It sounded good if the economy held. But eventually a balloon payment would come due. The economy didn’t hold. Like homeowners who ended up in foreclosure, now the Denver schools are worse off than ever. But the banks made out like bandits.

Bennet is one of those politicians who hasn’t seen a so-called school Reform he hasn’t loved. From pay-for-performance to charter schools, Bennet is a DFER wet dream.

DFER, you will recall, is the organization of billionaire boys club members, bankers, hedge fund managers and Wall Street Gordon Gekkos, who would like to buy and sell schools like exotic derivatives.

DFER is a major funder of Michael Bennet. Bennet is running for Senate, a position he was appointed to when Obama was elected.