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Sunday, November 27, 2011

Who Will Run Philadelphia’s Schools? | Seattle Education

Who Will Run Philadelphia’s Schools? | Seattle Education:

Who Will Run Philadelphia’s Schools?

A Parents Across America member asked that this be posted far and wide. Note the reference to Montlake Terrace High School in Edmunds, Washington in the article below.

For Philly Public Schools, Barbarian is Gates

by Lisa Haver

WHO WILL run Philadelphia’s Schools?

Last week, Philadelphia became the latest in a long list of cities to be courted by Bill Gates, when his “Great Schools Compact” was presented for consideration to the School Reform Commission. Bill Gates has taken on a reputation as a school reformer as well as philanthropist, dispensing money throughout the country for struggling schools in economically distressed cities while imposing changes in policies and procedures in those locales. Sounds like just what the doctor ordered.

Then how has Bill Gates become the liberals’ Grover Norquist? Just as Norquist, elected by and accountable to no one, tied the hands of the “supercommittee” with his no-new-taxes pledge, Gates undermines the authority of school boards with his pro-charter, pro-privatization contract. This contract requires that cities must sign on in order to benefit from the munificence of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He doesn’t just sign the check