UPDATED: Why Frank Biden Is 'President' of SoFla Charter School Chain

UPDATED: Why Frank Biden Is "President" of SoFla Charter School Chain

By Lisa Rab Fri., Nov. 25 2011 at 10:08 AM

pr.com

Frank Biden says he's president, regardless of the paperwork.

UPDATE: In a report filed with the state on December 5 -- two weeks after New Times broke this story-- Biden is listed as president of Mavericks in Education Florida, and Attkisson is vice president.

Nov. 25, 2011: Since we first introduced you to a Fort Lauderdale charter school chain headed by Vice President Joe Biden's brother, alert readers have raised an important question. Why, if Frank Biden is president of Mavericks in Education Florida, does his name not appear on any documents the company has filed with Florida's secretary of state?

Good question. Complicated answer.

The president listed on official documentation is Frank Attkisson, a former state representative and current county commissioner in Osceola.

However, Biden says that he is president and director of development for Mavericks. His name isn't listed on documents, he says, because Mavericks is in the middle of litigation with its former CEO, Mark Thimmig, who helped found the company in 2007 and still has a 30 percent ownership interest in Mavericks.

Once the legal issues are resolved, Mavericks will reorganize its corporate structure, and Biden says he will have "skin in the game." For now, the founding Mavericks managers, such as real-estate broker Lauren Hollander, are more involved in running daily operations. Biden, who just got involved with Mavericks two years ago, gives speeches, visits schools, and lobbies local school boards to approve more Mavericks charters.

Both Biden and Attkisson are also registered with the Florida Legislature as lobbyists for Mavericks.

"I'm a salesman," Biden says. "I'm nothing but a P.T. Barnum for these kids."

Tags:

charter schools, Fort Lauderdale, Frank Biden, Mavericks in Education Florida

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factchecker5

Not sure what this author is talking about... Frank Biden is the President of Mavericks according to Sunbiz. Author should probably take a shot at doing some research.

Respect

If you read closely you will notice that Biden was name President on 12/5/11 which a litte over a week after the article was written. Article was written on 11/25/11. We need to do some research before criticizing the messeger who is only reporting what's going on with the school system.

JohnD

When Mark Thimmig left, the schools became worthless. Frank Biden is not giving anything to the community. The teachers are poorly paid, the schools are nothing better than a cyber cafe playground. The Rodbergs are being sued by, Mark Thimming, some of the original Teachers and administrators, by the developing company who opened up the first 4 original schools, by staff members of the Dwade Sports Bars (which was ran by the Rodbergs), and if you look closer, you will find about 78+ letigations against the Rodbergs in Florida. Frank Biden, you are in bed with the wrong folks.

hookdonfoniksxyz

My step sister and I were looking at charter schools in the orlando area and ended up visiting a Mavericks High in Osceola County. She loved it and so did I. Unfortunately, she was unable to attend because she lived in Orange County. The Mavericks High was the best we saw and maybe you would be interested in viewing the following video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

JoeThePlumber44

is this going to create more jobs locally?

PrObama2012

Its good to hear about a wealthy guy like Biden giving back to the community...

teacherpreacher1

these charter schools take money away from the district! just because they can educated children for less money does not mean we should allow them. Support the big school system and the teachers unions!

slowNewsDay11

yawn... must be a slow news day... even with the pt barnum slam this is not a story

slowNewsDay11

As stated in the article, Frank Biden was waiting until litigation with Thimmig was resolved prior to becoming president. I am guessing that litigation was resolved and now the paperwork is complete. This is not much of a story.