RALEIGH, N.C. - A rarely applied experiment in education enabling companies to host taxpayer-funded charter schools for their employees' children may be about to spread.

  

Florida is the only state bringing business-backed charter schools to work sites so far. Louisiana and Connecticut laws also encourage these charters.

  

Louisiana's first school, partly financed by a hospital, is set to open next year. And now North Carolina lawmakers are weighing a law copied from Louisiana's.

  

Columbia University's Samuel Abrams workplace charter schools have been slow to catch on because commuting with children to and from the office hasn't been appealing. But the expert in privatization in education says cash-strapped state governments are happy for corporate financial help outfitting schoolhouses.