Charter school lobbyists are having a lot of influence in Mississippi’s charter school debate. The following are some of those representing the charter school, for-profit and virtual school lobby.
Butler Snow Advisory Group has several of its lobbyists assigned to clients with a vested interest in charter school legislation, including the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, which pushes for very broad charter school legislation allowing for-profit and virtual schools, and E2020, a provider of virtual school curricula.
Capitol Resources also has lobbyists representing companies with a vested interest in for-profit and virtual charter schools. K-12, Inc., the largest virtual charter school provider, is among its clients.
The Talon Group has lobbyists representing Connections Education, a virtual school company.
The Florida-based Foundation for Florida’s Future (FFF) has lobbyists working closely with Mississippi legislators (and lawmakers in many other states) to influence education legislation. The lobbying arm of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Educational Excellence, FFF is funded largely by for-profits with an interest in charter schools and virtual charter schools as well as foundations that push for the privatization of public schools. Among FFF’s funders are K-12, Inc., Connections Education, Academica, E2020, VSCHOOLZ, Global Scholar, Charter Schools USA, Apex Learning, and Amplify – all for-profit or virtual charter school-related – and the Oberndorf, Kovner, Fisher, Walton, Simon, and Devos foundations which push a school choice/privatization agenda.
