AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ A new landmark law to boost public school alternatives in Texas followed a surge in political contributions by current and former board members and employees of the state’s six-largest charter school operators.
An Associated Press analysis of Texas Ethics Commission filings shows charter school-affiliated donations to officeholders and candidates peaked during the 2010 and 2012 election cycles with a combined $518,000.
That was nearly double the total from the election cycles of 2006 and 2008.
The rise came ahead of the Legislature’s approval in May of the new law expanding the number of licenses to operate charter schools in Texas from a maximum 215 to 305 by 2019.
In all, AP tracked 112 contributors who wrote 926 checks from Jan. 1, 2005, to June 30.