Former Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran, who once called the state teachers union "downright evil" for opposing a voucher-like program that gives business tax credits for paying children's private school tuition, was just appointed Florida education commissioner.
The Associated Press reports the Republican politician was approved unanimously by the state Board of Education on Monday after being recommended to the position by Governor-elect Ron DeSantis.
During his time in the Legislature, Corcoran spearheaded efforts to fund the charter and private schools with taxpayer dollars – advancing legislation for the "schools of hope" program to let charter schools set up camp near struggling public schools and "hope scholarships" to let bullied students transfer to private school using publicly funded vouchers.
Despite Corcoran claiming he never made "one penny" by affiliating himself with these industries, his brother Michael Corcoran is a lobbyist for a charter school management company, Accelerated Learning Solutions, and his wife Anne Corcoran helped found a charter school that reportedly pays her $1 a year to be CEO.
This article originally appeared in our sister publication Orlando Weekly.
This article appears in Dec 13-20, 2018.