State legislatures make decisions about funding formulas, so that is where lobbyists spend their time and energy.
In Florida, the legislature is very charter-friendly when it comes to money for operations, facilities, and capital sending.
When you read this article, you will see why.
Here’s a pithy quote:
“A growing number of lawmakers have personal ties to charter schools. Sen. John Legg, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, is co-founder and business administrator of Dayspring Academy in Port Richey. Anne Corcoran, wife of future House Speaker Richard Corcoran, plans to open a classics-themed charter school in Pasco County. House Budget Chairman Seth McKeel is on the board of the McKeel Academy Schools in Polk County.
“In addition, the brother-in-law of House Education Appropriations Chairman Erik Fresen runs the state’s largest charter management firm, Academica Corp. And Sen. Anitere Flores, also of Miami, is the president of an Academica-managed charter college in Doral.
Frank Biden, brother of Vice President Joe Biden, runs a for-profit charter chain in Florida called Mavericks.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Yikes! So unethical on so many levels, criminal really.
There may be nothing wrong with charter schools . . . . if and ONLY if they are heavily, heavily, HEAVILY unionized. Every single one of them, and under one union that will advocate like Karen Lewis, and not Randi Weingarten.
Personally, charters are antithetical to my values, but if charters form their own union across the country, one could have a new national education union leader. And those privately managing the schools for profit with public funds might think twice about VAM, merit pay, and using test scores to evaluate teachers.
The Florida Shenanigans are coming full swing to New York – and no one seems to have a say in it except Governor Cuomo. Please see his latest press release. It is scary.
Governor Cuomo and Legislative Leaders Detail Agreement Guaranteeing All Schools Implement Permanent Teacher Evaluation Systems
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Albany, NY (March 25, 2013)
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Senate Majority Coalition Co-Leaders Dean Skelos and Jeff Klein, and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver today detailed an agreement to guarantee every school district has a permanent teacher and principal evaluation system in place by June 1st.
“This agreement ensures that every school district in New York has a permanent teacher evaluation system” Governor Cuomo said. “By guaranteeing that all our public schools have strong evaluations in place, we are putting the needs of students first and transforming our public education system for future generations to come.”
Senate Majority Coalition Co-Leader Dean G. Skelos said, “This agreement is a reasonable compromise that builds on the legislation we passed to enhance accountability in schools and give our students the first-class education they deserve. I look forward to working with the Governor and my colleagues in the Legislature to do more to improve education and help our kids compete and succeed.”
Senate Majority Coalition Co-Leader and Independent Democratic Conference Leader Jeffrey D. Klein said, “Adopting this plan will be a great step forward for parents, teachers, and students. By doing so, we will prevent future cuts to education funding and ensure that every teacher is held to a fair and meaningful standard of excellence.”
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said, “This agreement represents a significant step forward for our teachers, schools, and, most importantly, our students. This plan restores stability to education funding now and in the future, ensuring that our schools and educators have the resources they need. We welcome this agreement as part of the 2013-2014 budget and commend the Governor and our colleagues in the Legislature for their commitment to providing the necessary resources to keep New York a leader in education.”
The legislation has several components:
First, the legislation would make clear that all evaluation systems currently implemented will not sunset by remaining in effect unless there are agreed to changes by the district and local bargaining unit.
Second, the legislation would give the four remaining school districts that have failed to implement an evaluation system—New York City, Pine Plains, Fallsburg and Hamburg—until May 29th to reach an agreement on a system. If a district does not have a plan approved by that date, a one-time binding arbitration process will commence and the state will impose a system on the district by June 1st. State Education Commissioner John King will act as the arbitrator in this process and decide what evaluation system will be imposed.
Third, to ensure ongoing compliance with the implementation of the evaluation system, school districts will continue to remain ineligible for annual state education aid increases if the district fails to implement their approved evaluation system.
Last year, Governor Cuomo established a new statewide evaluation system that is one of the strongest in the country. The system is based on multiple measures of performance including student achievement and rigorous classroom observations. The Governor signed a law last year requiring all school districts to implement an evaluation system based on the statewide system approved by the State Education Department or risk losing their increase in education aid—resulting in 99 percent compliance (687 out of 691 school districts implemented a system).
Today’s law will ensure one hundred percent compliance and will help improve education all across New York.
Why don’t the lawmakers in Florida just take a chunk of highway, name it after themselves, and collect tolls from the Public in order to get more money in their pockets? Then, stay out of Education!
Tim
Because privatizing public education is so much more lucrative!
Tim–That is a MUCH better idea!
Once again floriduh is the laughing stock of the nation!
Isn’t this becoming all too usual now? Everyone seems to have their hand in the till at the expense of our youth. Who do they think is going to pay for their retirement? Those who are unable to compete in a world in which everyone else is highly educated and we are not? Now we see that the President, his wife, Michelle, The Vice-President and the Secretary of Education are all corporate privatizers with their hand either now or in the past in the cookie jar of money to them for privatizing and/or corporatizing public schools. Something stinks says I. As long as the American public continues to put up with this they deserve what they get as I think it was Ben Franklin said “Those who will give up liberty for security are doomed to have neither.”