Why Arne Duncan needs to listen to Bill and Melinda
I do not hate the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. I know it might seem strange to have to make that statement, but such are the times we live in. I’ve just had too many arguments with too many friends who, when I ask specifically why they are upset with some aspect of educational “reform”, respond, “Well, you know this was funded by the Gates Foundation,¨ as if this was evidence of the Mark of the Devil.
So let me say again… I do not hate the Gates Foundation. I also feel compelled to state for the sake of balance that I do not love the Gates Foundation. The Foundation, for me, is not a thing to love or hate. It is what it is, and it is many things. It is impossible to put them in some ideological box.
The Gates Foundation funds ideas. Lots. And lots. And lots of ideas. Some extremely good ideas (meaning I like them) like how to prevent malaria and HIV infection and college success programs in Denver public schools and Michigan and California and Florida and Wisconsin and just about every other State University system and Oxfam and county libraries, and thousands of others.
I had to really search for extremely bad ideas (meaning I didn’t like them) and eventually found the American Enterprise Institute and their teacher evaluation project (which, let’s just be honest, Rick Hess is going to need some adult supervision.)
But I digress. Back to Bill and Melinda. They fund ideas, not ideologies.
For instance, early on, someone convinced them to fund an idea about doing something about mega-gigantic high schools. The idea was to reduce – not class size, but – school size. Hypothesis: Small schools would give kids a more personal education; families would be more involved; better learning; fewer Why Arne Duncan needs to listen to Bill and Melinda | Lily's Blackboard: