Edu-Funders: Seek Smart Criticism, Even Amidst Cheap Shots
by Frederick M. Hess • Sep 14, 2011 at 8:59 am
Cross-posted from Education Week
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ShareThere's been a surge in attention paid to edu-philanthropy of late, especially with Sam Dillon's piece in the New York Times in May and Bill Gates' WSJ interview this summer. The condemnations of "corporate philanthropy" and of philanthropists giving away tens of millions as "MBAs run amok" fly hot and heavy. I think the critics are mistaken and way too quick to hurl accusations here. I don't remember them raising concerns about the pernicious influence of grantors when the Ford Foundation bankrolled litigation to boost edu-spending or when the Annenberg Challenge pumped $500 million into a mash-up of ineffectual mid-1990s reforms that educators happened to like.
But I want to focus for a moment on the foundations themselves, and particularly my friends who enjoy
