Gates Foundation tied to lawsuit seeking to block citizen vote on Common Core
BOSTON – A lawsuit that aims to prevent Massachusetts voters from weighing in on the controversial Common Core educational standards has backing from people connected to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a major sponsor of Common Core.
Since 2010, the year the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted to implement Common Core, through last year, the Gates Foundation donated $776,431 to the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education. The Alliance, a strong supporter of Common Core, is currently coordinating the lawsuit, filed last month, to block a citizen initiative that would allow Massachusetts voters in November to decide whether the state continues to use the federally approved Common Core standards or revert to its own pre-Common Core standards.
In 2007, prior to the implementation of Common Core, Massachusetts was the highest-achieving state in the country. Opponents of Common Core, an unusually bi-partisan group of parents, teachers, education specialists, conservative activists, and anti-testing activists, say that after the state adopted the federally backed standards in 2010, Massachusetts achievement levels started to decline.
End Common Core Massachusetts, the citizens group behind the ballot question, earlier this year garnered enough signatures to advance the measure. But on Jan. 22, ten plaintiffs sued to stop the question from reaching the voters. Plaintiffs include William Walczak who is a director of the Alliance, and Jack Dill, who is on its advisory council.
At the top of the list of plaintiffs is Stephanie Gray, the president of the state Parent Teacher Association. Asked Friday why her name was placed in the lead, Gray said the alliance asked her to take that role.
“They asked and I said yes,” she said. “I really feel passionate about this.”
Gray said she thinks the Alliance plays a critical coordination role in the legal action.
“It’s always hard as parents and teachers for us to sometimes come together and move things forward,” Gray said.
Linda Noonan, the executive director of the alliance, wasn’t available for comment Friday, according
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