Local News | Gates Foundation pours funds into education advocacy groups | Seattle Times Newspaper

Local News | Gates Foundation pours funds into education advocacy groups | Seattle Times Newspaper

Gates Foundation pours funds into education advocacy groups

In Washington state as well as across the nation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is an influential, controversial and sometimes unnamed player in education policy debates.

By Linda Shaw

Seattle Times education reporter

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"Bley calls it a bottom-up approach — one in which the foundation has a ... (August 6, 2011, by another arnold) Read more

Just like Congress is controlled by the money of corporate donors, so is public... (August 6, 2011, by nellenjo) Read more

The only reason Gates has a voice at the table is because he is rich. He has zero... (August 6, 2011, by DrPezz) Read more

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Three of Washington's most prominent education advocacy groups share more than a desire to change the state's public-school landscape.

All three — the League of Education Voters, the Partnership for Learning, and Stand for Children — also receive significant financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Here at home, as well as nationally, the Seattle-based foundation is a powerful player in public education. It underwrites groups pushing for change, bankrolls projects and helps out-of-state organizations establish themselves here.

With that backing, Washington state now has a broader, stronger group of voices clamoring to bring much of the national education reform agenda here.

Some consider that progress, saying the foundation is helping bring Washington out of the