More on the Gates Foundation – Is it Good or Bad for Education?

Dear Commons Community,

On the opening of its new headquarters last week in Seattle, the Gates Foundation has stirred a bit more controversy as to its goals and influences on education policy.  National Public Radio (NPR)  ran a brief story on this and it has been pick-up by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, a K-12 professional organization, on whether the Gates Foundation is good or bad for education.   I posted on this issue a couple of weeks ago.  The NPR piece quotes several observers as follows.

“In order to keep its tax-exempt status, the [Gates] foundation has to give away about $3 billion a year. Stacy Palmer, editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, says the foundation’s influence goes far beyond that.

“They’re influencing governments in lots of different ways — and corporations, and really everybody else in society, and it’s not just about writing checks,” she says.

It’s about setting agendas, framing debates, advocating the foundation’s point of view and taking action. Palmer says the foundation has changed the perception of what a private organization can do.

“And that is a good thing,” she says. “Because it’s getting more people involved. But if you don’t like what their agenda is — then it’s an unchecked way of getting things done and that bothers a lot of people.”

Right now, for example, there’s a lot of talk about the foundation’s effort to improve public schools. It’s focusing on better classroom instruction and is using data — including student test scores — to gauge how well teachers are doing.

“I have no doubt that the movement Bill Gates has launched has created enormous hostility toward teachers,” says Diane Ravitch…”

And that is the rub!!!

Tony.

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