DFER UPDATES
The DOE press secretary confirmed that Scott Pearson is still working in the DOE. Pearson donated $5,025 in July of 2010, but his occupation and employer are listed as “retired” on DFER’s report to the FEC. Puzzling.
From the NY Times:
As part of his drive to open charter schools, Mr. Klein courted an important ally: New York’s wealthy hedge fund community, which has backed them with tens of millions of dollars.
Charter schools, explained Whitney Tilson, the founder of T2 Partners and one of their most ardent supporters, are the perfect philanthropy for results-oriented business executives. For one thing, they can change lives permanently, not just help people get by from day to day. For another, he said, “hedge funds are always looking for ways to turn a small amount of capital into a large amount of capital.”
A wealthy hedge fund manager can spend more than $1 million financing a charter school start-up. But once it is up and running, it qualifies for state funding, just like a public school. Except that in most cases,