{"id":10833,"date":"2012-07-26T11:50:40","date_gmt":"2012-07-26T15:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/?p=10833"},"modified":"2012-07-26T11:50:43","modified_gmt":"2012-07-26T15:50:43","slug":"report-says-alec-has-growing-influence-in-florida-education-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2012\/07\/26\/report-says-alec-has-growing-influence-in-florida-education-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Report Says ALEC Has Growing Influence In Florida Education Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mladen Antonov \/ AFP<\/p>

Protesters carry posters reading "I am Trayvon Martin" during a rally in downtown Washington DC on March 28, 2012. Protesters gathered outside the American Legislative Exchange Council's (ALEC) headquarters to protest against the laws protecting the "justifiable homicide" first approved in Florida.<\/p><\/div>\n

The conservative-leaning American Legislative Exchange Council<\/a> has a growing footprint in Florida, particularly education policy, according to a new report<\/a> by a coalition of liberal-leaning advocacy groups.<\/p>\n

From the report\u2019s executive summary:<\/p>\n

This corporate\u2010funded 501(c)(3) organization\u2026has unprecedented access to lawmakers and to the composition of the bills they pass into law. Out of Florida\u2019s 160 state legislators, 60 have had ties with ALEC since 2010 through dues records or records of its task forces where corporate lobbyists vote as equals with legislators on \u201cmodel\u201d bills behind closed doors. <\/em><\/p>\n

ALEC’s website says it \u201cworks to advance the fundamental principles of free-market enterprise, limited government, and federalism at the state level through a nonpartisan public-private partnership of America\u2019s state legislators, members of the private sector and the general public.\u201d<\/p>\n

The groups behind the report don\u2019t see it that way. They include Progress Florida, Florida Watch, People For the American Way, Center For Media and Democracy, Common Cause.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The report shows ALEC\u2019s influence on Florida education first by targeting the use of school vouchers for students who wish to leave failing schools:<\/p>\n

ALEC sees private school vouchers as a way to radically privatize the public education system. Under the guise of \u201cschool choice,\u201d ALEC pushes bills with titles like \u201cParental Choice Scholarship Act\u201d and the \u201cEducation Enterprise Act\u201d that establish private school voucher programs. <\/em><\/p>\n

ALEC has also been an active supporter of online education corporations, despite the negative results of such programs. <\/em><\/p>\n

Matthew Ladner, one of ALEC\u2019s most prominent advisors on education policy and a former education advisor to (former Florida governor) Jeb Bush<\/a>, recently received a \u201cLifetime Bunkum Award\u201d from the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado for promoting false and misleading information in pushing ALEC\u2019s school choice agenda.<\/em><\/p>\n

The anti-ALEC groups are particularly concerned about \u201cmodel legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n

They say ALEC provides its Florida members with talking points, issue alerts, and press release templates to support or oppose legislation. The report found that model legislation designed by ALEC has sometimes been introduced in Florida \u201cword for word.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group also hosts regular meetings to discuss policy and provides scholarships for lawmaker to attend. ALEC is meeting in Salt Lake City this week.<\/p>\n

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