The Strangely Incurious Bill Gates
The latest interview with Bill Gates on CNBC has the world’s richest man discussing education with little evidence that he has learned much over the past six years. Is he paying attention? In a bubble? What the heck is going on?
As readers of this blog know, I have been attending to the words and deeds of Bill Gates for several years. The man is highly intelligent, and describes himself as a “technocrat.” He speaks as if he were a scientist, citing research and statistics to support his views, and even calling the work his foundation sponsors “experimental.” But I have worked closely with scientists before, and one thing I have noticed is how carefully they attend to the results of their experiments. And in medical science, great care is taken to monitor potential adverse effects on human subjects. If there are signs that harm is occurring, experiments must be discontinued, even if they are not complete. Gates has used billions of dollars to promote an experimental course of reforms which are making huge impacts on the lives of students and educators across the country, yet he seems remarkably incurious about the results we are already seeing.
In his most recent interview on CNBC, Gates, alongside fellow billionaires Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, was asked what they would do if they were “education czar.” (Ironically, Gates has unofficially functioned in this capacity since 2009.) Gates sad:
Gates: One piece of good news is that charter schools are doing a very good job of educating kids in the inner city. Where typically dropout rates are very, very high, and very few kids go to college. The good charters have overcome that by using long school day, long school year, a different way of working with the teacher, amazing results have taken place. You’re absolutely right, we haven’t moved the needle for most students. Charters are only a few percent, so we have to spread those best practices in order to get real change.
CNBC: How do you do that in the public school system?
Gates: It’s not easy. School boards have a lot of power, so they have to be convinced. Unions have a lot of power, so teachers have to see the models that are working, because although change may be scary, they want to be part of a successful model. So we needThe Strangely Incurious Bill Gates - Living in Dialogue:
