Charter School Industry “invests” more than $9 million in Connecticut lobbying
Since taking office in January 2011, Governor Dannel Malloy has been able to count on the consistent and lucrative support of the charter school industry and their pro-charter school, pro-Common Core, pro-Common Core testing and anti-teacher corporate education reform allies.
In addition to being one of Malloy’s largest sources of campaign cash during his 2014 re-election campaign, the owners and operators of Connecticut’s charter schools, along with the corporate elite who support Malloy’s “education reform” initiatives have dumped more than $9 million into the lobbying effort to support Malloy’s agenda to undermine public education in Connecticut.
This lobbing frenzy makes the corporate education reform effort the most expensive lobbying campaign in Connecticut history.
Funneling money through a variety of different organizations and front groups, the charter school advocates have been able “transform” public education in Connecticut by promoting Malloy’s plans to divert hundreds of millions of dollars in scarce public funds to privately owned and operated charter schools.
While Malloy and the Democratic controlled General Assembly are instituting unprecedented cuts to public schools, thanks to the “reformers” lobbying effort, more than $110 million in public dollars will be handed over to charter schools this year alone.
In addition, these groups have spent their millions pushing the Common Core and Common Core testing scheme, a program designed to label a vast number of Connecticut’s children, teachers and schools as failures.
The following chart highlights the Step Right Up, Buy Public Policy organizations that have lobbied on behalf of Malloy’s charter school and anti-public education agenda.
| Organization | Lobbying Expenses |
| A Better Connecticut (ConnCAN front group) | $2.3 million |
| ConnCAN | $1.9 million |
| Families for Excellent Schools | $1.8 million |
| GNEPSA (StudentsFirst/Michelle Rhee) | $891,000 |
| CT Council for Education Reform | $349,000 |
| Students for Education Reform | $16,000 |
| Achievement First | $422,000 |
| NE Charter School Network/Charter School Network | $132,000 |
| Bronx Charter School | $35,000 |
| CT Business & Industry Assoc. (CBIA) | >$1.2 million |
| TOTAL | $9 Million+ |
This past legislative session, these charter school and education reform entities spent in excess of $500,000 successfully persuading legislators to cut their own district’s public Charter School Industry “invests” more than $9 million in Connecticut lobbying - Wait What?:
