The Gates Foundation Responds: Poverty Does Matter--But It Is Not Destiny
Guest post by Chris Williams of the Gates Foundation.
This guest post is a response to Anthony Cody's post of a week ago, Can Schools Defeat Poverty by Ignoring It? This is the third topic in a series of five exchanges exploring critical issues in education reform. This post can also be viewed and commented upon at the Gates Foundation's Impatient Optimists blog.
In his latest post in the "Dialogue with the Gates Foundation" series, Anthony Cody addresses the question, "What is the role of education reform in relation to the problem of family poverty? What is the best way to achieve greater equity in education and life prospects for children of poverty?"
Before addressing any of the points and questions he raises in his blog, I think it would be helpful to take a step back and consider the goals and ambitions of the Gates Foundation, the role of philanthropy, and the limits of what both can accomplish. It seems Cody gives the foundation far too much credit in his assessment of its influence, and the problems it could solve by re-directing funding.
When Bill and Melinda Gates started their foundation more than a decade ago, they made addressing the