Gates partnership leaves Hillsborough schools shouldering millions more than expected
A seven-year effort to put better teachers in Hillsborough County schools is costing the system millions of dollars more than officials projected. And the district's partner in the project, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is spending $20 million less than expected. The numbers, found in recent reports, differ significantly from what was commonly understood about the high-profile partnership, known as Empowering Effective Teachers. The district was to raise $102 million for its part, much of it by aggressively pursuing grants from local corporations and other entities. Gates was to kick in $100 million, for a total of $202 million. But as the project stands in its final year, the district's contribution will total $124 million in money and labor, while the Gates organization is paying only $80 million, the reports state. What's more, the district has put the total cost of the program, so far, at $271 million, which includes costs related to the effort. The numbers likely will be part of a detailed discussion that begins today on how to address the district's dwindling reserves and the resulting budget crisis that has bond-rating companies raising questions about school system finances.
School Board chairwoman Susan Valdes said she has long harbored doubts about escalating costs for the Gates-funded program, which launched in 2009 with great fanfare and put Hillsborough on the map nationally as an innovative district.
"That was my biggest fear, as excited as I was," she said Monday. "I am looking forward to tomorrow's workshop like there's no tomorrow."
Anna Brown, who manages the Gates grant for the district, cautioned against thinking the program is too costly, or that it can be dismantled now that one of its primary features, performance pay, is state law.
She said the extra $69 million in total expenses includes activities outside the scope of Empowering Effective Teachers, but related to it — such as a principal training program that uses funds from the Wallace Foundation, a New York-based philanthropic group focused on education.
Similarly, the $124 million listed in reports as "district reallocation" includes time by workers such as programmers, test designers and personnel staff who would be on the job anyway. "Some of it's an in-Gates partnership leaves Hillsborough schools shouldering millions more than expected | Tampa Bay Times:
