More than $90,000 funneled to state legislative campaigns in 2012

In March of 2012, North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis and ten other state lawmakers flew to Florida on the dime of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina (PEFNC), an organization known for endorsing conservative education reform initiatives, including school vouchers.

In the year that has followed, North Carolina has absorbed a flood of more than $90,000 in campaign contributions to lawmakers friendly to the school choice movement.

The stated intent of last year’s trip was to educate North Carolina lawmakers about Florida’s tax credit scholarship program, which encourages companies to donate scholarship money for low-income children to attend private schools by providing matching state tax dollars. Critics of the Florida program say it’s a thinly-disguised voucher scheme that diverts funds from the public school system to send kids to private institutions that are not held to the same high standards applied to public schools.

The Florida trip, which cost $8,300, was clearly billed as “educational,” rather than “influential,” by PEFNC in an effort to ensure that the trip did not violate NC lobbying laws.

Since the Florida gathering, lawmakers in the North Carolina legislature have introduced more than 20 bills related to school choice. Rep. Marcus Brandon, one of the eleven lawmakers who went to Florida, argues that “it is unconstitutional not to give students a choice” when it comes to their education. He has introduced six bills related to school choice this session, including two bills that would bring vouchers to the state.

Brandon was also one of several lawmakers who, in 2012, received campaign donations from PEFNC’s PAC as well as individual PEFNC funders.

Though not indicative of any apparent unlawful activity or purpose, the story of where this money originated and how it flowed shines a revealing light on a movement that bills itself as a grassroots effort driven by the demands of average families.

American Federation for Children

Earlier this month, a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published a copy of the American Federation for Children’s (AFC) “2012 Election Impact Report.” The report reveals that AFC, a well-known national school choice advocacy organization, funneled more than $90,000 to the 2012 election campaigns of Republican and Democratic North Carolina lawmakers who support school choice, with the help of two local PACs in North Carolina.

So, who is behind the American Federation for Children?

Previously known as Advocates for School Choice, AFC rebranded itself in March 2010 and also joined with the Alliance for School Choice, which was previously known as the Education Reform Council.

Both of these groups have received considerable amounts of funding from the late John Walton, an heir to the Wal-Mart fortune. Their board members include Dick DeVos, heir to the Amway fortune who has poured hundreds of thousands of dollars of seed money into school choice groups, and his wife Betsy DeVos, who actually runs AFC and is known for her conservative Christian right-wing ideology and for having poured millions into promoting voucher programs across the country.

In February, the AFC contributed $800,000 to pro-voucher ad campaigns for two voucher-friendly candidates running for the legislature in Tennessee. In Wisconsin, the AFC has been very active in reaching out to disability groups to garner their support for vouchers, and has also pitched to them the idea of getting disability vouchers into the state budget.

Other key supporters of AFC include William Oberndorf, managing director of an investment firm who has given millions to the school choice movement and is a board member of Alliance for School Choice, and John Kirtley, a venture capitalist and AFC board member.

Kirtley is also on the board of Step Up for Students, which administers Florida’s tax credit scholarship program that allows low-income students to use state funds to attend private institutions in the state. The program is one of the largest in the country of its kind. In 2011, Step Up for Students’ president, Doug Tuthill, received $165,995 from the organization. Most of the other administrators at Step Up for Students also received well north of $100,000 in compensation.

In response to a call to AFC’s national headquarters to ask why they are interested in funding election campaigns for lawmakers in North Carolina, Matt Frendewey, communications director, said via email, “as the nation’s voice for educational choice, AFC and its coalition partners in states such as North Carolina support candidates on a bipartisan basis who believe in strengthening education by giving parents more educational options for their children.”

Following the money

American Federation for Children’s two local allies are the North Carolina Citizens for Freedom in Education Independent Expenditure PAC (herein referred to as “Citizens PAC”), and PEFNC’s PAC, known as Partners for Educational Freedom PAC.

In 2012, the AFC gave $52,900 to the NC Citizens PAC. According to campaign finance records found on the NC State Board of Elections website, that money was used to fund radio ads, newspaper ads, mailers, and GOTV efforts for the campaigns of Representatives Marcus Brandon, William Brisson, Ed Hanes, Evelyn Terry, and Senators Malcolm Graham and Earline Parmon.

The other local ally, Partners for Educational Freedom PAC, raised $36,700 in 2012 and funneled that money to the following campaigns: Rep. Bryan Holloway, Rep. Bert Jones, Rep. Elmer Floyd, Rep. Mike Stone, Rep. Tim Moffitt, Rep. Ed Hanes, Rep. Evelyn Terry, Rep. Marcus Brandon, Rep. Rob Bryan, Rep. Ruth Samuelson, Rep. Tim Moore, Rep. Paul Stam, Rep. Hugh Blackwell, Rep. John Szoka, Rep. Julia Howard, Rep. William Brisson, Rep. Thom Tillis, Sen. Fletcher Hartsell, Sen. Phil Berger, Sen. Bill Rabon, Sen. Bob Rucho, Sen. Malcolm Graham, Sen. Dan Soucek, and Governor Pat McCrory.