Dear Commons Community,
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has done a lot of good things and has shown great leadership during the coronavirus pandemic. His daily news briefings have been informative and instill confidence that he is handling the pandemic competently. On Tuesday, however, he announced that he was asking the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to assist schools and colleges to “reimagine education in the state.” This will be problematic. The Gates Foundation does not have a good track record in supporting education initiatives. To the contrary, it was seen as an organization that pushed questionable policies such as Common Core, standardized testing, and teacher evaluation. If Gates wants to donate equipment or software that is fine but if it gets into the policy arena, there will be a backlash among educators. In fact, the latter has already started. Carol Burris, the Executive Director of the Network for Public Education, has initiated a letter-writing campaign (see below) to keep Gates out of New York education. I don’t agree entirely with her position but her concerns are well-founded.
Tony
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Dear _______________,
It is déjà vu all over again in New York. On Tuesday, May 5, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that he asked the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help the state “reimagine education in the state” when schools reopen in the fall.
Tell Governor Cuomo New Yorkers need their school buildings safely opened, not “reimagined” by Bill Gates. Send your email here.
You remember the last time the vision of Bill and Melinda Gates descended upon New York. It arrived after the last financial crisis via Race to the Top– the Common Core, Common Core testing and evaluating teachers by test scores.
Now Gates and Cuomo want to partner in order to change our schools next fall. Governor Cuomo thinks students “sitting in a classroom” with their classmates and teachers is no longer a good idea. Maybe the Governor does not know the horrible track record online schools have.
This project is no more than a thinly veiled excuse to drive down education funding while allowing tech profiteers to cash in.
Call the Governor now at 1-518-474-8390.
Tell him to work on getting the funding needed to safely reopen schools rather than following another one of Bill Gates’ corporate schemes. New York kids and families deserve better.
Thanks for all you do,
Carol Burris
Network for Public Education Executive Director
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