1. Mission: The American Legislative Exchange Council works to advance limited
government, free markets, and federalism at the state level through a nonpartisan public-
private partnership of America’s state legislators, members of the private sector and the
general public.
Who Are they: Non-Profit Organization who provides a constructive forum for state legislators and
private sector leaders to discuss and exchange practical, state-level public policy issues
What do they do: They publish research and writing on issues that are of importance to its members.
It holds meetings where people from public and private sectors share their views. It also develops
model policies and resolutions on economic issues.
What are the issues: ALEC’s task forces cover a variety of economic issues of importance to the
American people, including job creation and growth, state tax issues and budget solvency, education
and healthcare reforms, corrections and reentry programs, civil justice reforms, and sound energy and
environmental solutions.

2. Nine Task force:
1)Civil Justice
2) Commerce, Insurance and Economic Development
3) Communications and Technology
4) Education
5) Energy, Environment, and Agriculture
6) Health and Human Services
7) International Relations
8) Justice Performance Project
9) Tax and Fiscal Policy.
ALEC receives 95% of its funding from foundations, corporations, other nonprofits, meeting
revenue and the sale of its publications. Legislators pay $100 in annual membership dues,
while corporations pay $7,000 to $25,000

3. ALEC-influenced bills introduced in 2013
include legislation to, among other
things:
• Create or expand taxpayer-funded voucher programs, using bills such as the “Parental Choice
Scholarship Act” (introduced in three states). Under many state constitutions, the use of
public dollars to fund religious institutions has been rejected on separation-of-powers
grounds, but the ALEC Great Schools Tax Credit Act, introduced in ten states in 2013,
bypasses state constitutional provisions and offers a form of private school tuition tax credits
that funnel taxpayer dollars to private schools with even less public accountability than with
regular vouchers.
• *Carve-out vouchers for students with special needs, regardless of family income, through
the “Special Needs Scholarship Program Act” (introduced in twelve states), which sends
vulnerable children to for-profit schools not bound by federal and state legal requirements to
meet a student’s special needs, as public schools must. A proposal in Wisconsin would have
allocated up to $14,658 to a for-profit school for each special needs student.
• *Send taxpayer dollars to unaccountable online school providers through the “Virtual Schools
Act,” introduced in three states, where a single teacher remotely teaches a “class” of
hundreds of isolated students working from home. The low overhead for virtual schools
certainly raises company profits, but it is a model few educators think is a appropriate for
young children.
• *Offer teaching credentials to individuals with subject-matter experience but no education
background with the Alternative Certification Act, introduced in seven states.

4. ALEC (2014). Retrieved from: http://www.alec.org/
Strauss, V. (2013, July 17). ‘Stand Your Ground’ group pushes privatization of public education. The
Washington Post. Retrieved from: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-
sheet/wp/2013/07/17/stand-your-ground-group-pushes-privatization-of-public-education/