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Wednesday, October 7, 2020

Laura Chapman: “GreatSchools” Rating System Is Funded by School Choice Billionaires | Diane Ravitch's blog

Laura Chapman: “GreatSchools” Rating System Is Funded by School Choice Billionaires | Diane Ravitch's blog

Laura Chapman: “GreatSchools” Rating System Is Funded by School Choice Billionaires




Laura Chapman, intrepid researcher, writes here about the billionaire and corporate money supporting the rating system for schools called GreatSchools. It clearly exists to promote school choice, not community cohesion or civic responsibility. GreatSchools recently announced that it would use “growth scores” to measure school quality, not just test scores, but the difference is miniscule, and the outcome is the same: to promote segregation and school choice by linking “school quality” and test scores.
Laura Chapman writes:
Great Schools is supported by income from Scholastic, Zillow and other advertisers, who pay for packages that can push up their page views or allow them to license the school ratings. The whole website functions as a tool to perpetuate redlining, charter schools, and advocates forf school choice.
Here are the largest financial pushers of the dubious ratings:
Walton Family Foundation, Laura and John Arnold Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Einhorn Family Charitable Trust, Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Trust, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
These big funders are offered a display of their logos. Other supporters are: CONTINUE READING: Laura Chapman: “GreatSchools” Rating System Is Funded by School Choice Billionaires | Diane Ravitch's blog