Few individuals have been as involved in Ohio political giving than ECOT founder Bill Lager and his cohorts. Since 2000, over $2.8 million dollars in campaign contributions have flowed from ECOT-associated individuals to state and federal candidates and party committees. The overwhelming majority of these contributions went to Republicans. All this while more than $1 billion in taxpayer funds were funneled to the school over its 18-year existence. In the wake of these contributions, state officials essentially allowed the e-school to operate despite a record of poor performance.As politicians scramble to unload this tainted money, fueled by reports the FBI is investigating a “straw-donor scheme” to exceed campaign contribution limits, the issue is not likely to go away soon.As a convenience, we have summarized historical political contributions to state and federal candidates and party committees associated with ECOT.
