Report: Public schools in the District remain highly segregated - The Washington Post

Report: Public schools in the District remain highly segregated - The Washington Post:

Report: Public schools in the District remain highly segregated

Public schools in the nation’s capital remain highly segregated, a new analysis shows, with many D.C. campuses enrolling almost exclusively students of color despite an influx of white families into the city in recent years.

The Civil Rights Project at UCLA found in a report released this month that 71 percent of black students in the D.C. public school system and the city’s charter sector attended schools in 2013 that had virtually no white peers. That was down from nearly 90 percent in 1992.

But the report’s authors argued that city officials have not done enough to lure white families into public schools and to diversify the enrollment of individual campuses. They contend that the city’s changing demographics — with no single racial or ethnic group accounting for a majority of its estimated 681,000 residents — make it ripe for new initiatives, such as high-quality magnet programs, to promote racial integration in schools.

[Read the report here.]

“Washington now has possibilities that most cities simply don’t have, and what’s striking about it is that officials have tried everything else [other] than welcoming diversity into schools,” said Gary Orfield, a UCLA professor who co-authored the study with postdoctoral researcher Jongyeon Ee.

Orfield and other experts say racial segregation can hurt minority students because their schools tend to have fewer resources as well as teachers with less experience, and that can lead to lower academic achievement. Often those schools have high concentrations of students from low-income families, leading to what the report’s authors call “double segregation” — by race and by economic class.

D.C. education officials say they value diversity and have put policies in place to expand options for families.

Scott Pearson, executive director of the D.C. Public Charter School Board, credited Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) for supporting a program that allows students free rides on public transportation to and from school. The program allows students from various racial, economic and geographic backgrounds to attend public charter schools throughout the city, Pearson said.

“Experts consider Washington D.C. as one of the best public charter school networks in the Report: Public schools in the District remain highly segregated - The Washington Post:

“Tonight’s award goes to BETSY DeVOS.” | Reclaim Reform

“Tonight’s award goes to BETSY DeVOS.” | Reclaim Reform:

“Tonight’s award goes to BETSY DeVOS.”

“And the award goes to BETSY DeVOS, the U.S. Secretary of Education, who is also a billionaire heiress and a proud self-proclaimed Super-Christian who wants to use America’s schools to, as she puts it, ‘advance God’s kingdom.‘

DeVos is awarded for her CHRISTIAN HYPOCRISY. Recently she smilingly joked at a conservative conference that she wished to tell a progressive liberal politician that, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.”

This statement, of course, is a direct rebuttal of Jesus Christ’s own proclamation to feed the hungry.

This diatribe by the U.S. Secretary of Education reveals the Christian Hypocrisy endorsed by Betsy DeVos who should know that 21.5 million children rely on free or subsidized lunches in schools across America.

Now, THAT’S Hypocrisy! (Pause for audience applause.)

Betsy, please step forward and say a few words.”

This particular blog post is, of course, a satire.

“Tonight’s award goes to BETSY DeVOS.” | Reclaim Reform:

Private school vouchers: A solution in search of a problem | Eclectablog

Private school vouchers: A solution in search of a problem | Eclectablog:

Private school vouchers: A solution in search of a problem

Private school vouchers are the zombies of the education reform agenda. No matter how many times they are defeated at the ballot box, they just won’t die.

Vouchers are overwhelmingly unpopular with voters, contribute to school segregation, don’t help poor families attend the “school of their choice,” and the most recent research on vouchers suggests that the students who use them perform worse academically than their peers in public schools. And now, with the full force of our new President, the former CEO of his very own private, fraudulent, for-profit “charter university,” and his stunningly unqualified, docile, and compliant Secretary of Education, behind the re-birth of these programs, we are seeing a full-fledged zombie apocalypse of voucher enthusiasm.

Let’s take a look at the disconnects between what voucher advocates have promised, and what vouchers have actually delivered.

The Unpopularity of Private School Vouchers

Just how unpopular are vouchers with the American public? As education historian, Dr. Diane Ravitch, points out, very:

When Ms. DeVos and her husband Richard led a movement to change the Michigan state constitution to permit vouchers for religious schools in the year 2000, the referendum was defeated by 69-31%. Even in deep red Utah, the public rejected vouchers overwhelmingly in 2007. Florida was the last state to reject vouchers, in a 2012 vote deceptively named the Religious Freedom Act; it was defeated by 58-42%.

Vouchers are so unpopular that conservatives like Ms. DeVos have now turned to a favorite business practice, “rebranding,” in an attempt to trick the public into supporting them.

Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors, competitors, and other stakeholders.

Notable examples of rebranding include tobacco giant Phillip Morris changing its name to Altria to avoid association with the negative image the company had developed. Closer to home, in perhaps an uncomfortable reminder for Ms. DeVos, her brother’s notorious private mercenary firm, Blackwater, rebranded itself as Academi after a group of its employees killed 17 Iraqi civilians and injured 20 more in Baghdad in 2007.

DeVos and other voucher advocates have begun using terms like “education tax credits,” “education debit cards,” and “neovouchers” to try to throw citizens off the scent of their true intentions. In Florida, a state that both Trump and DeVos consider a “second home”, the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program offers a neat end-around to avoid the impression that tax dollars are going to subsidize private and religious school tuition–which is exactly what the program does.

Established in 2001 under former Gov. Jeb Bush, it has allowed businesses to earn a tax credit in exchange for donating money to send low- and middle-income children to private schools.

This year, for example, about 90,000 low-income children attend more than 1,600 private 

Private school vouchers: A solution in search of a problem | Eclectablog:

Betsy DeVos is Michigan's worst export: Sam Inglot | PennLive.com

Betsy DeVos is Michigan's worst export: Sam Inglot | PennLive.com:

Betsy DeVos is Michigan's worst export

By Sam Inglot

Watching Betsy DeVos' face plastered across every TV and website for weeks on end as she slogged her way to become Secretary of Education was like reliving a nightmare we've experienced in Michigan for years. And it's a something that folks in Pennsylvania should wake up to as well.

When a friend on the East Coast sent me the piece written by Matthew Brouillette, formerly of the Commonwealth Foundation, the Betsy DeVos he was describing was not the DeVos I knew.

Brouillette said DeVos "has fought to improve conventional public schools while simultaneously expanding alternative school options."

That came to news to me, as someone who was born and raised in Michigan and attended public schools in the Great Lakes State my entire life, I've only known and seen how DeVos's name is held in contempt when crossed with public education.

I then realized I knew little about Commonwealth Foundation, and after a quick search, it all became clear.

The DeVos family has had their hands deep in Michigan politics for decades, particularly when it comes to education policy. The results have us dismayed that Betsy DeVos has now been exported to the rest of the USA.

Over the years, the DeVos family used their billions to influence a broad range of education and labor policies -- to the detriment of public school students, teachers, parents and working families.

But the DeVos family has not been idle outside of Michigan. They've been active propping up corporate-backed, right-wing organizations across the US in their bid for power and control.

Commonwealth Foundation is a member of the State Policy Network and a sister organization to the Michigan-based Mackinac Center for Public Policy, an organization we've lambasted here in Michigan for their free market run amok vision for the future.

The State Policy Network (SPN) is a right-wing "think tank" outfit that pushes for Right to Work laws, profit-driven charter schools, and against clean energy. The DeVos family, including Betsy, have deep ties to SPN and have backed the organization with their dollars and political capital.

Because of DeVos and the Mackinac Center, Michigan gives $1 billion a year to charter schools with little accountability or oversight. You can be sure, this is the goal of all SPN affiliates, including Commonwealth.  

In fact, the Commonwealth Foundation backed a DeVos-supported bill for school vouchers in 2011, which was similar toBetsy DeVos is Michigan's worst export: Sam Inglot | PennLive.com:

TRUMP’S BILLIONAIRE CABINET: How They Harm Working People and Take America’s Wealth for Themselves « Betsy Devos « Hedge Clippers

TRUMP’S BILLIONAIRE CABINET: How They Harm Working People and Take America’s Wealth for Themselves « Betsy Devos « Hedge Clippers:
TRUMP’S BILLIONAIRE CABINET: HOW THEY HARM WORKING PEOPLE AND TAKE AMERICA’S WEALTH FOR THEMSELVES

CONTEXT: AS PRESIDENT, TRUMP ELEVATES THE WALL STREET ELITE HE CRITICIZED AS A CANDIDATE

Last year, throughout his presidential campaign, Donald Trump harnessed populist anger at the wealthy elite, and presented himself as an outsider who will stand up for working people.

At an August 2015 appearance on CBS, Trump said that “hedge funds guys are getting away with murder,” earning “a hell of a lot of money and not paying taxes.”[1] He slammed the “global special interests rigging the system” against working class Americans.[2]

Candidate Trump criticized excessive CEO compensation, saying “you see these guys [CEOs] making these enormous amounts of money and it’s a total and complete joke.”[3]

Speaking about his tax plan, he claimed “no one will gain more from these policies than low and middle income Americans.”[4]

He vowed to drain the “swamp” of political insiders and financial elite. But as President, Trump has quickly embraced the Wall Street billionaires he criticized as a candidate.

His cabinet appointees and top advisors are drawn heavily from the hedge fund and private equity worlds. They made their fortunes by manipulating the economy against working people and extracting massive wealth from communities.

DONALD TRUMP’S CABINET AND ADVISORS BY THE NUMBERS:

Total net worth of Trump advisors and cabinet members exceeds $63,170,600,000, a sum that exceeds the gross domestic product of TRUMP’S BILLIONAIRE CABINET: How They Harm Working People and Take America’s Wealth for Themselves « Betsy Devos « Hedge Clippers:

BustED Pencils Trending News: Vouchers Suck. | BustED Pencils

BustED Pencils Trending News: Vouchers Suck. | BustED Pencils:
BustED Pencils Trending News: Vouchers Suck.

It’s been decades since a bunch of blockheads decided to listen to Milton Friedman’s idea that public education should be funded through a voucher system that allows parents a school of their “choice.”  After all the invisible hand of the free market would make American schools “great again.”

However, just this week we find out that after decades of blockheads ramming through voucher legislation the impact of vouchers on children attending private schools has been total FUBAR.

1. A Comprehensive review of the research.
2. Louisiana.
3. Fordham too!

But hey the problem is that there just hasn’t been enough money thrown at this failed idea.  Let’s inject another 20 billion dollars of taxpayer money into choice programs.  That should do the trick!

BustED Pencils Trending News: Vouchers Suck. | BustED Pencils:

CURMUDGUCATION: The Free Market vs. Customers

CURMUDGUCATION: The Free Market vs. Customers:
The Free Market vs. Customers
I write so much about the free(ish) market that one might assume that I hate it. I don't. I think the profit motive, properly harnessed and directed, can accomplish a great deal. Making money is not inherently bad.

However, there are certain things that the free market will not do, and those weaknesses are in direct conflict with the purposes and goals of public education.

If you want to see what the problems would be, all you have to do is look around right now at every other sector of Trumpistan, where the Privatizer-in-Chief and the members of his Free Market Fan Club have been pursuing a particular set of goals.

This week the FCC took some steps to "relieve thousands of smaller broadband providers from onerous reporting obligations." More specifically, they removed some regulations that require ISPs to publish pricing and service information. This is seen by some as a first step of a general assault on net neutrality.

Meanwhile, some environmental regulations are already rolling back, a trend that is expected to accelerate under the new EPA head. Elizabeth Warren's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is under attack. And in the education world, for-profit colleges that were feeling some pressure under Obama (though, seriously, how much pressure really) are feeling like there's a fresh new day a-borning.

These and the many government actions like them come from the same basic free-market CURMUDGUCATION: The Free Market vs. Customers:

Donald Trump Dances to His Billionaire Backers’ Tune on School Choice - The Daily Beast

Donald Trump Dances to His Billionaire Backers’ Tune on School Choice - The Daily Beast:

Donald Trump Dances to His Billionaire Backers’ Tune on School Choice
The Mercers have long been in the thick of the charter-school movement. Now their presidential candidate is right there with them.

Donald Trump was never a major presence in the school-choice world—he didn’t give give to activist groups, or back New York’s growing charter-school movement. But over the last few months he’s begun loudly singing their praises, a major change of thought that coincides with the growing influence within his campaign of donors—many with hedge fund backgrounds—who help fund that movement.

Trump’s campaign has framed the new emphasis as part of his new effort to reach out to black and Hispanic voters. His polling numbers with both demographics are abysmal, and he needs all the help he can get. But the real calculus behind his shift is likely more complicated. And it puts him in the middle of a debate that involves billionaire hedge-fund bosses, multimillion-dollar pension sums, and—in theory—every school child in America.

A handful of hedge fund bosses have long played outsize roles in the school-choice movement, which looks to increase enrollment in charter schools and give families vouchers to spend at the school of their choice. Several of those bosses are now backing Trump, just as he seems to have finally embraced their cause. Robert Mercer, for instance, heads a fund called Renaissance Technologies, and his family foundation has spent big to boost pro-school choice efforts. And John Paulson, another major Trump backer who heads a hedge fund, has poured millions into New York’s Success Academy charter school network.

Investopedia reported in March of this year that the federal tax code provides benefits to hedge funds that invest in charter schools. In 2000, then-President Bill Clinton set up a tax credit for banks and private equity funds that lend nonprofits the money they need to start charter schools.

“By combining the various credits with the interest from the loan itself, a lender can almost double his investment over the seven-year period,” wrote Juan Gonzalez at the New York Daily News. Not bad!

Trump, of course, isn’t a hedge-fund guy. And he’s criticized tax policies that give them special perks. He also hasn’t been a big school-choice guy; he briefly mentioned charter schools in his 2000 book The America We Deserve, but otherwise stayed mum on them until launching his 2016 bid. He mentioned them briefly at the Miami Republican primary debate in March, saying Ben Carson supported them.

And in April, Ben Carson told The Washington Post that he had encouraged Trump to start talking about school choice.

“He’s been very enthusiastic about that suggestion,” Carson continued. “He’ll Donald Trump Dances to His Billionaire Backers’ Tune on School Choice - The Daily Beast:

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Here Comes March Edition + Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Here Comes March Edition (2/26):

ICYMI: Here Comes March Edition (2/26)

A wide assortment of stuff today, because fake spring is over and real winter is back. 

Homeschoolers Revolt Against Republican School Choice Bill

Yeah, it's Breitbart, so it may be 100% crap. But it might also be an interesting look at how very conservative  folks end up opposing school choice.

Charter Schools Have Lost Their Way

A look at how folks who started out as charter supporters could end up disaffected and abandoning the cause.

4Chan- The Skeleton Key to the Rise of Trump

A really interesting look at 4chan, anonymous, gamergate, and the whole angry young white guys in their Mom's basement part of society. Not directly related to education, but still a fascinating read.

Decaying Buildings and the Rise of Digital Education

Using the deliberate abandonment of physical plants as a way to drive the new industry

The Failure of the iPad Classroom

A long look at how the movement to put ipads at the center of classrooms has been a sad and wasteful failure.

Betsy DeVos and the Plan to Break Puiblic Schools 

Ffrom Rebecca Mead at the New Yorker, a well-thought-out look at the Big DeVos Picture, with lots of links.

The Disappearing Educator

At the Michigan Education Association website, a look at why the teacher pool is shrinking.

Have We Lost Sight of the Promise of Public Schools

At the New York Times, Nikole Hannah-Jones looks at the difficulties we've always had fulfilling the promise of public education (hint: they're related to our problems acepting all citiizens as equal parts of the public).

Betsy DeVos and the Task of Satffing Donald Trump's Education Department

Andy Smarick at US News breaks down the five hurdles future USED staffers will have to clear, and in the process, he gives us a picture of what the Trump-DeVos USED will look like. Forwarned is forearmed.

W.E.B. DuBois and Dual Consciousness for Teachers of Color

Jose Vilson looks at DuBois and the questions teachers of color must ask.

It's Not About Them (It's About Us)

Blue Cereal Education with a piece that looks at the basic foundation of how principled people behave toward other people.

Oh, Hey-- a Lot of Private Charter Schools Are Just Dumping Grounds for Poor Students-- Imagine That

I suppose I could have just linked you to the original report, but Wonkette's take is so much more spicy and entertaining, while still presenting the meat of these shameful findings.

Success Staff Questions Moskowitz's Ties to Trump

From Politico, we learn that Eva Moskowitz suddenly has scruples about being politically active in her position. Who knew?

CURMUDGUCATION: ICYMI: Here Comes March Edition (2/26):



Big Education Ape: Catch up with CURMUDGUCATION - WI: State Superintendent Vs. Voucher$ + Deserving - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2017/02/catch-up-with-curmudgucation-wi-state.html

Betsy DeVos, Religious Extremist: Watch This Video Before It is Deleted | Diane Ravitch's blog

Betsy DeVos, Religious Extremist: Watch This Video Before It is Deleted | Diane Ravitch's blog:

Betsy DeVos, Religious Extremist: Watch This Video Before It is Deleted

Betsy and Dick DeVos funded the Student Statesmanship Institute in Michigan, which literally indoctrinates young students into what it considers a “Biblical world view.”

This video lasts for several minutes. Don’t stop watching at pauses. It is likely to be deleted soon. Save it if you can.

Listen to the leader praise Lenin, Hitler, and Stalin for their ability to brainwash the young. Watch the students chant their allegiance. Hear the leader express the hope that the young people indoctrinated into Biblical values will one day fill the Michigan legislature, both chambers.

Do not be fooled. DeVos and her family are funders and patrons of the Religious Right. They are intolerant. Did she defend federal protection of the rights of transgender students? I doubt it. The students in this video are taught certainty, not respect for the views of those who are different.Betsy DeVos, Religious Extremist: Watch This Video Before It is Deleted | Diane Ravitch's blog:

Oscar Sunday. | Fred Klonsky

Oscar Sunday. | Fred Klonsky:

Oscar Sunday.

There is no overstating how unprepared Americans are to retire. Nearly half of private-sector employees — some 55 million people — do not have an employer-provided retirement plan. Most of them are low- to middle-income earners who will end up relying on Social Security for between half and all of their income in retirement.

And yet, as early as Wednesday, House Republicans are expected to pass a measure to thwart efforts by California, Illinois and other states to establish basic retirement savings plans for employees at companies that do not offer such coverage. In California, for example, participating employees would have a small percentage of pay deducted from their paychecks, unless they opted out. Those amounts would be pooled and managed by investment professionals chosen by the state in a bidding process; the plan would be overseen by a board of government and business leaders appointed by the governor and the Legislature. NY Times

Speaking from his hospital bed, Mr Grillot told how he tried to subdue the shooter when he thought he had run out of bullets, only to be shot in the chest and hand.

He said he was “grateful to be alive” and that he was “just doing what anyone should have done for another human being”.

The US embassy in New Delhi has strongly condemned the shooting, saying: “The United States is a nation of immigrants and welcomes people from Oscar Sunday. | Fred Klonsky:

Unlikely allies: some homeschoolers fighting to kill school choice bill | The Texas Tribune

Unlikely allies: some homeschoolers fighting to kill school choice bill | The Texas Tribune:

Unlikely allies: some homeschoolers fighting to kill school choice bill
Rural conservatives and homeschoolers are joining forces with public education advocates against Senate Bill 3, which pushes private school choice. Their state senators are not all on the same page.

 Nicki Truesdell is a product of homeschooling and would never enroll her four younger children in a public or private school. Corrine French has spent the last five years serving on the board of a rural public school district in North Texas.

Both are terrified a "private school choice" bill will pass this legislative session.

The longtime friends say they were surprised to find themselves on the same side of an education policy fight as state senators consider a bill to give parents debit cards to pay for private school and homeschooling, using taxpayer money. The polarizing issue has brought together unlikely allies, with some homeschoolers, rural conservatives and public education advocates fighting what they see as an encroachment on their schools.

Texas senators with rural constituents are not necessarily on the same page. Several have expressed support for some version of Senate Bill 3, and the two Republican senators who voted against last session's private school choice bill are keeping mum about whether they will continue to oppose a bill that is particularly important to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

Patrick has been fighting for a voucher-like bill since his first session as a state senator in 2007. Two years ago, he rallied senators to a successful 18-12 vote for a similar bill. That bill died after the more politically moderate House did not take it up for a vote.

SB 3 would create two public programs subsidizing private tuition and homeschooling expenses, with one program available to families of any income. Truesdell, a leader of a statewide grassroots group called Texans for Homeschool Freedom, has organized thousands of parents on social media to oppose any private school choice bill.

"I'm a lifelong conservative. I've voted Republican all my life. To find myself on the opposite side of the Heritage Foundation and the opposite of [U.S. Sen.] Ted Cruz — it's very shocking and concerning to me," Truesdell said.

She and the organization's more than 6,000 members fear state-funded homeschooling would ultimately take away their freedom, opening the door to regulation of their textbooks and curricula. Texas law currently considers homeschooling to be private education and imposes just a few basic regulations.

"If it's state-funded and state-approved materials, it's not homeschooling," Truesdell said.

She and about 10 others broke away from the Texas Homeschool Coalition when they realized the state's main homeschool group was vocally supporting Senate Bill 3. Jeremy Newman, the coalition's director of public policy, said the bill represents an extension of parental rights and protects homeschool students from burdensome government regulation.

French, on the other hand, is a member of the nonprofit Texas Association of School Boards, which views voucher-type legislation as a financial attack on public schools. French also does most of her organizing online, fielding emails and Facebook messages from people in her circle confused about the issue.

A board member of Valley View ISD 60 miles north of Dallas, she homeschooled her six children alongside Truesdell's kids for about 11 years. But after a divorce six years ago, she realized it would be difficult for a single parent to educate so many teenagers. She enrolled them in public schools, which meant she saw her homeschooling friend less. 

At a Halloween party at their church last October, Truesdell and French brought their kids, ran into each other, and reconnected. French had been sure her conservative friend would join many national homeschooling leaders in supporting private school choice. She avoided bringing up the topic with Truesdell, fearing a conflict. "Who likes to get into an argument?" French said.

Truesdell gingerly eased into the subject. They ended up chatting for two hours in the church, oblivious for the moment that their children were ready to head home.

"We just found it interesting that on such a divisive topic, a homeschooler and a public schooler actually did agree on this issue," Truesdell said.

Few choices in rural areas

Even if the two friends wanted to use state money for private school tuition as Unlikely allies: some homeschoolers fighting to kill school choice bill | The Texas Tribune:

Warren Buffett and Bill Gates on Why America Is Already Great - The Atlantic

Warren Buffett and Bill Gates on Why America Is Already Great - The Atlantic:

Buffett and Gates: America Is Already Great, Thanks to Immigrants
Two of the world’s three richest people extol the virtue, and relevance, of optimism in the age of Trump—and predict a comeback for fact-based discourse.

Bill Gates, the world’s richest man, and Warren Buffett, the third richest, are—not entirely coincidentally—two of the most unremittingly optimistic men on the planet. So when I met the two of them in New York recently to talk about the state of humankind, and about the future of American democracy, I had a clear understanding of my mission, which was to pressure-test their sanguinity at every turn.

I tried, and failed, though not completely. Both men appear to doubt some of President Trump’s innovations in rhetoric and policy. Both men have warm feelings about immigrants, and also about facts, and so are predisposed to react skeptically to recent developments in the capital. When I asked whether they believed America needed to be made great again, Buffett nearly jumped out of his chair: “We are great! We are great!” And when I asked about the Trump Administration’s problematic relationship with empiricism, Gates said, “I predict a comeback for the truth.” He went on to say, “To the degree that certain solutions are created not based on facts, I believe these won’t be as successful as those that are based on facts. Democracy is a self-correcting thing.”

On immigration, both men were emphatic: In explaining the success of the American experiment, Buffett said, “You had a welcoming attitude toward immigrants who then did wonders for this country.”

Despite their ephemeral worries, Buffett and Gates are both believers in the inexorable nature of progress, not only because they have been treated kindly by fate, and not only because they have concluded that America’s fortunes cannot be reversed during a single four-year presidential term, but because they have overseen a rather remarkable experiment in data-driven philanthropy. The work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, underwritten in part by Buffett’s support (in 2006 he pledged to donate $31 billion), has saved untold millions of lives. (The only person who could plausibly be credited with saving more lives in this period is President George W. Bush, who dramatically expanded the U.S. war on infectious disease during his two terms in office.) They have also overseen a remarkable experiment in peer-pressure-driven philanthropy: Their “giving pledge” encourages the world’s richest people to do as they have done, and commit much of their fortunes to good deeds. So far, they have gotten 157 pledges, which isn’t enough, but it’s something.

The impetus for this joint interview was the release of the annual letter issued by Bill and Melinda Gates on behalf of their foundation. The letter this year was addressed to Buffett, to whom Bill and Melinda Gates are profusely grateful. (Full, very MSMish-sounding disclosure: My wife works as an adviser on gender Warren Buffett and Bill Gates on Why America Is Already Great - The Atlantic: