Backers of Bush nonprofit include banks, schools, lottery

WASHINGTON (AP) — Big-time donors to a nonprofit educational group founded by Jeb Bush, disclosed for the first time Wednesday, highlight the intersection between Bush's roles in the worlds of business, policy and politics years before he began running for president.

After leaving the Florida governor's office in 2007, Bush formed the Foundation for Excellence in Education, with a mission "to build an American education system that equips every child to achieve their God-given potential."

"If you wanted access to Jeb Bush, one of the ways to do it is to make a large donation to one of those foundations," said Bill Allison, who until recently was a senior fellow with the Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit that advocates for open government.

[...] recently, the Foundation for Excellence in Education revealed the names of its donors only from 2012 to 2014.

In response to an Associated Press request seeking the full list dating to 2007, the foundation released nearly every donor during its existence, encompassing 428 contributions, with just one or two of the 187 donors still remaining anonymous.

"Over the last eight years, we raised $46 million to advance proven reform policies at the state level to give more children the opportunity to rise up and achieve success in school and life," Bush wrote this week as part of his tax return disclosure.

There is no issue more critical to our long-term success as a nation than transforming America's education system, and I'm proud of the work my foundation has done to advance meaningful reforms to put us on the right path.

In recent years, at least nine charter school and education-related donors to the Foundation for Excellence in Education won contracts in those eight states, revealing the mirrored missions of donors and the foundation.

A spokeswoman said the lottery doesn't donate to groups, but instead sponsors events "to help raise awareness of the lottery's contributions to education."