Big for-profit schools, big donations: the influence of charter schools on Pennsylvania politics
It's no secret that Harrisburg is a hive of lobbyists, each representing industries and interests that spend millions to persuade state lawmakers to bend laws in their favor.
But perhaps what makes the charter-school lobby unique among the pack, says State Rep. Bernie O'Neill, a Republican from Bucks County, is its ability to deploy children to its cause.
In 2014, O'Neil experienced that first hand after proposing changes to a funding formula that would affect charter schools. Parents and children stormed his office and barraged him with calls and emails.
"They were calling me the anti-Christ of everything," O'Neill said. "Everybody was coming after me."
In recent years, as charter schools have proliferated - particularly those run by for-profit management companies - so too has their influence on legislators. In few other places has that been more true than Pennsylvania, which is one of only 11 states that has no limits on campaign contributions from PACs or individuals.
According to a PennLive analysis of donations on Follow The Money, a campaign donation database, charter school advocates have donated more than $10 million to Pennsylvania politicians the past nine years.
To be sure, charter-school advocacy groups aren't the only ones spending big to influence education policy in the Keystone State. The Pennsylvania State Education Association, which represents 170,000 teachers and related professionals, has spent about $8.3 million over the same time period according to Follow The Money.
But what perhaps makes the influx of money from charter-school groups unique in Pennsylvania is the magnitude of spending by only a handful of donors and, in recent years, some of their high-profile successes in moving and blocking legislation.
"They are mobilized," O'Neill said. "Let me tell you something: they are mobilized."
Big schools, big donations
In Pennsylvania, a charter school has to be set up as a non-profit. However, a charter-school company can get around that by setting up a foundation to file the application and then contracting with the foundation to run the school.
While not all charter schools in Pennsylvania are run by for-profit management organizations, many are.
Jessie Ramey, a historian of social policy based in Pittsburgh, said there's little doubt Big for-profit schools, big donations: the influence of charter schools on Pennsylvania politics | PennLive.com:
