ALEC Education "Academy" Launches on Island Resort

Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, Florida.

Yesterday, hundreds of state legislators from across the nation gathered at an "island" resort on the coast of Florida for a so-called "education academy" sponsored by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). There were no students or teachers invited to the Ritz resort. Instead, legislators, representatives from right-wing think tanks and for-profit education corporations met behind closed doors, in the words of PR Watch's' Dustin Beilke , "to channel their inner Milton Friedman and promote the radical transformation of the American education system into a private, for-profit enterprise."

You can learn more about ALEC, an extreme right-wing policy group which received funding from the Gates Foundation, at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALEC Exposed website.