When Will Bill Gates Leave Public Education Alone?
There can be no doubt that Bill Gates is a smart guy. What I have a tough time with is that because he is smart AND has lots of money that somehow that makes him an expert on anything he decides is important.
Mr. Gates, like Eli Broad and the Waltons, have created a playbook (probably via our friends at ALEC) for ed reform.
Just to be fair, I'm sure it is as frustrating to them as it is to all American citizens at the stubbornness of the opportunity gap, the numbers of students who drop out, the need for new skills/rigor in our classrooms and the need for the best-trained, best quality teachers.
But here's the playbook they created (this via the Edushyster blog).
1. Bad News Bears. The news is bad folks. In fact it’s worse than bad. It’s *terrible.* You thought you knew just how badly our union-stifled public schools were doing? Take what you thought you knew and ratchet up (or is that down?) the failure by a factor of 9—no, make that 10. While there may be astonishing news to the contrary
Mr. Gates, like Eli Broad and the Waltons, have created a playbook (probably via our friends at ALEC) for ed reform.
Just to be fair, I'm sure it is as frustrating to them as it is to all American citizens at the stubbornness of the opportunity gap, the numbers of students who drop out, the need for new skills/rigor in our classrooms and the need for the best-trained, best quality teachers.
But here's the playbook they created (this via the Edushyster blog).
1. Bad News Bears. The news is bad folks. In fact it’s worse than bad. It’s *terrible.* You thought you knew just how badly our union-stifled public schools were doing? Take what you thought you knew and ratchet up (or is that down?) the failure by a factor of 9—no, make that 10. While there may be astonishing news to the contrary
