"meant to mine votes rather than build acute minds"

Clive on Tuesday's WPS budget hearing:

The strength of the Worcester public schools has been the willingness of public officials to do what was necessary, rather than what was required, to provide young people with the best educational experience.
That willingness seemed to have waned during the past several years, but, notwithstanding Mr. Gaffney’s contrariness, the tone of the overall discussion on Tuesday night suggests that city and school officials are back to playing on that strength.