Tom Vander Ark and the Business of Education
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush believes in education. He believes that education should follow a business model, that education is a lucrative market and should be privatized. And corporations ready to profit from the corporate reformer declaration that “public education is failing” are in no short supply. Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education (FEE) provides an excellent conduit for “education for sale.” As Donald Cohen of the watchdog group, In the Public Interest, notes, corporations use FEE “to help state officials pass laws and regulations that make it easier to expand charter schools, require students to take online education courses, and do other things that could result in business and profits for them.”
It’s all about the money.
But who, exactly, is pocketing FEE-endorsed profits?
In 2011, FEE’s two highest paid independent contractors were both firms affiliated with the former director of the Gates Foundation’s education programming, Thomas Vander Ark: Vander Ark Associates
It’s all about the money.
But who, exactly, is pocketing FEE-endorsed profits?
In 2011, FEE’s two highest paid independent contractors were both firms affiliated with the former director of the Gates Foundation’s education programming, Thomas Vander Ark: Vander Ark Associates