Gates Won't Pull ALEC Grant
Gates at an Energy Department conference in February.
(Getty Images / PAUL J. RICHARDS)
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, under fire from the left for a grant to the American Legislative Exchange Council, said it won't pull its promised funding from the conservative group.
The Gates Foundation last fall awarded ALEC a grant of $376,635 "to educate and engage its membership on more efficient state budget approaches to drive greater student outcomes, as well as educate them on beneficial ways to recruit, retain, evaluate and compensate effective teaching based upon merit and achievement."
Gates Foundation press secretary Christopher Williams told BuzzFeed the foundation does not plan to withdraw that grant "for now."
"We have already paid out a significant portion of it," he said.
Williams told Roll Call yesterday that Gates does "not anticipate making another grant to ALEC,"