If you want to know why so many politicians think so highly of charters, there is a basic rule of politics that explains it all: Follow the money.
The most visible organization promoting corporate reform is called Democrats for Education Reform, known as DFER (commonly pronounced “D-fer”). DFER is the Wall Street hedge fund managers’ group. It always has a few non-hedge funders on the board, especially one or two prominent African-Americans, to burnish its pretentious claim of leading the civil rights movement of our day. Kevin Chavous, a former council member from Washington, D.C., fills that role for now, along with the DFER stalwart, Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark. DFER has its own member of the U.S. Senate, Senator Michael Bennett of Colorado. It has also raised money generously for Congressman George Miller, the senior Democrat on the House Education and Labor Committee.
This group bankrolls politicians, woos them, raises campaign cash for them, and persuades them of the advantages of turning the children of their district over to privately managed schools. Watch their website to see which politician they favor this month and scan those they have recognized in the past.
In New York City, Hakeem Jeffries, DFERs’s candidate for U.S. Congress, announced his support for tax credits for religious schools on the day after he won the election. His support for charter schools was already well known. Unless there is targeted new funding, support for charters and religious schools comes right out of the budget for public schools, which are already stressed by cuts.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
First of all, I despise the Oligarchy we’ve become. Corps are playing by the rules that the Govt elites set up. They have to play by the same rules as the rest of us. They have to beg and plead for their crumbs but they just have a louder voice because they can pay lobbyists and fund campaigns.
The govt. has over-regulated corps into virtual monopolies and then everyone wonders why they are so powerful and influential.
A free-market would break that down and they wouldn’t be able to wield as much power.
But mention de-regulation to liberals and they get scared. Mention free markets and they run.
Yet the very things that they complain about (Corp power) has been set up by a powerful govt. that decided they should control the free markets.
So the small guys who can’t afford to play the game, get weeded out, the corps remain paying their master (the Govt) and liberals complain because the corps are too powerful.
Keep giving the govt. more power and keep hammering away at the free market and what do you expect?
I trust the free market far more than I do the govt. who has essentially created the oligarchy.
With six media giants managing 90% of what you read and see, you think we have free markets?
With little stores driven out of business by megastores, you think we have free markets?
With neighborhood schools closed and replaced by corporate chain charters schools, you think that is a free market?
It seems to me that big government and big corporations are happiest playing together.
The big corporations give big money to political campaigns. Their voices get heard.
Does yours? Does mine?
We have social media.
That’s the one part of the media market that is truly free.
They don’t care because they own the mass media and can safely ignore what you or I write.
“This group bankrolls politicians, woos them, raises campaign cash for them…”
For a minute there, I thought you were talking about the NEA
Haha.
Just a few differences.
One is the amount of money the Wall Street guys have to play with.
The other is that NEA represents two million teachers.
Who do the Wall Street guys represent and what’s the source of their millions?
And in my mind, I’m questioning if the NEA is representing teachers, or if they are using their time, effort, and resources to get a place at the table with Arne Duncan and Pearson. Truly, it feels like we are adrift.
And unlike the NEA, there isn’t a concerted effort to use legislation to destroy them.