We, the undersigned, demand the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation divest from corporate education reform.
Dear Bill and Melinda,
Prestigious academics from around the world collaborated to
write a letter to Dr. Andreas Schleicher, director of the Organization for Economic and Cooperation Development’s (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment, to express deep concern about the impact of the PISA tests. These academics included David Berliner, Regents Professor of Education at Arizona State University; Diane Ravitch, Research Professor, New York University; Carol Burris, Long Island school leader and former High School Principal of the Year; Henry Giroux, Professor of English and Cultural Studies, McMaster University, and Yong Zhao, Professor of Education, Presidential Chair, University of Oregon. Together they called for a halt of next year’s round of testing. Here is what they said:
“We assume that the OECD’s PISA experts are motivated by a sincere desire to improve education. But we fail to understand how your organisation has become the global arbiter of the means and ends of education around the world. OECD’s narrow focus on standardised testing risks turning learning into drudgery and killing the joy of learning. As PISA has led many governments into an international competition for higher test scores, OECD has assumed the power to shape education policy around the world, with no debate about the necessity or limitations of OECD’s goals. We are deeply concerned that measuring a great diversity of educational traditions and cultures using a single, narrow, biased yardstick could, in the end, do irreparable harm to our schools and our students.”
This statement also applies to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s corporate education reform policies.
We at Teachers’ Letters to Bill Gates and the following signers hereby assume that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation experts are motivated by a sincere desire to improve education. But we fail to understand how your organization has become the national and global arbiter of the means and ends of education in the United States and around the world. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s narrow focus on standardized testing risks turning learning into drudgery and killing the joy of learning. As the Gates Foundation’s national and global push for the Common Core, high-stakes testing, and teacher evaluations based on test scores has led many governments into a national and international competition for higher test scores, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has assumed the power to shape education policy in the United States and around the world, with no debate about the necessity or limitations of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s goals. We are deeply concerned that measuring a great diversity of educational traditions and cultures using a single, narrow, biased yardstick could, in the end, do irreparable harm to our communities, our schools, our profession, and our students.
You and the
OECD have much in common, Bill and Melinda. Your imposition of corporate reform policies, which are measured using a single, narrow, biased yardstick, are successful in one area only: making a profit for you, test companies, publishers, and the privatizing corporate reformers. Your policies continue to use our children as guinea pigs in your corporate reform experiments and risk doing
“irreparable harm to our schools and our students”.We the undersigned reject the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s tight control of education policy. Venture philanthropy’s influence on public education has been all-pervasive and we demand an immediate restoration of democracy in our schools. Divest from corporate education reform. (Note: We will deliver this letter with signatures along with a published copy of all Teachers’ Letters to Bill Gates at the #EducatingGatesRally in Seattle on June 26th. Readers, please send us a note to add your name as a signer. Join us at the rally! ) Sincerely,
Susan DuFresne, General Education and Special Education Kindergarten Teacher, Co-Author of Teachers’ Letters to Bill Gates
Katie Lapham, NYC public school teacher, Co-Author of Teachers’ Letters to Bill Gates
Jennifer Rumsey, Parent, High School English Teacher
Mark Naison, Professor of African American Studies and History, Fordham University and Co-Founder of the Badass Teachers Association
Julianna K. Dauble, M. Ed. Teacher, Activist & Parent
Linda Myrick, Teacher, Bellevue School District
Kris Nielsen, Parent, Teacher, Activist
Keitha Bryson 1st grade teacher – Highline Public Schools
Michelle Murphy Ramey
Elizabeth Lynch – Public School Teacher, Adjunct Professor, Grandparent, Activist
Lance Fialkoff, Founder, Musical Media for Education (MME)
Joan Kramer, Retired School Librarian
Noel Hammatt
Susan Polos, National Board Certified Teacher, Board Member Section of School Librarians, New York Libray Association
Kathleen Canavan, M.Ed.
Terry Preuss, NBCT, Career Public Educator, Broward Teachers Union Executive Board, Broward County Public Schools District Advisory Council, Concerned American Parent and Citizen
Helmut G. Preuss, Concerned Parent, co-founder ABC+LOVE
Tracy Eddins, Kindergarten Teacher, Parent and concerned human
Cynthia Liu, Parent and Founder, K-12 News Network
Rosalie Romano, Educator for a sustainable future with social justice for all
Ani McHugh, Parent and English Teacher
Lissa L. Coleman, Certified School Dropout Prevention Specialist
(Names will be added as they are received. Please share your name and how you wish to be titled. You can add your name here by posting it with your title to the comment section, tweeting us @TeachersLetters2Gates , @EducatingGatesF or on
Facebook here. Thank you in advance for signing. )
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