“Charter school companies, online learning outfits try to wield influence in Tallahassee.” Miami Herald (FL), 10/22/2012
In the looming battle for public education dollars, Jon Hage has launched a pre-emptive strike.His school management company, Charter Schools USA, has doled out more than $205,000 in contributions to political candidates and organizations this election cycle, state records show. That's more than triple what the Fort Lauderdale-based company spent on political campaigns in 2010, and seven times what it spent in 2008."If we don't support our friends in Tallahassee, they are left out there to take the enemy's bullet," Hage said.For-profit education companies are becoming serious players in lobbying the Florida Legislature. In the current election cycle, charter school companies, school management firms, online learning outfits and for-profit colleges have lavished more than $1.8 million to statehouse candidates, electioneering organizations and political parties, according to a Miami Herald review of Florida campaign finance data.Most of the money went to Republicans, whose support of charter schools, vouchers, online education and private colleges has put public education dollars in private-sector pockets...This season's top private contributors included Academica Management, a Miami-based charter school company, and its construction arm, School Development LLC. The companies and their high-level executives gave more than $220,000 in the current election cycle, including $60,000 in contributions to the Republican Party of Florida...Thousands of dollars also came in from education companies in Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Kansas...Tom Cerra, who lobbies for the Miami-Dade school system, said the for-profit companies are positioning themselves to push through an ambitious agenda...The charter-school lobby will fight for a share of the lucrative construction dollars allocated to traditional school districts, something it failed to accomplish last year...
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