Gates/Dell/Walton Purchase Share of Charter Authorizer Association

[Hannah Bell]

It's not a coincidence that on the same day that Duncan officially announced the start of the "Race off the Cliff," the Gates, Dell, and Walton foundations donated $9.4 million to the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, a pro-charter/privatization nonprofit led by former Renaissance 2010 leader Greg Richmond. From the NACSA website:

"CHICAGO, July 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) announced today that it has received $9.4 million in investments from three of the nation's preeminent foundations -- the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, and the Walton Family Foundation -- that recognize the need for consistent standards and accountability in charter school authorizing practices."

...NACSA has also works with the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (board members listed here), has received about a million dollars a year from government sources and another million from the Walton Family Foundation, manages to pay roughly $100,000 salaries to 9 employees/consultants, and includes for-profit ventures like the Edison Schools, White Hat, K-12 Inc, and Connections Academy in their membership.

NACSA overseas about half of the nation's charter schools, but also act as one of the de facto PRs/lobbying/training arm of the corporate charter school movement: giving advice to states and education departments on charter oversight, regulations, and authorizations all while taking money from the for-profit education sector and a right-wing, union-bashing foundation looking to push more competition in public education. Conflicts of interest? You bet. Insidious relationships? Check. Corrupt snake oil salesmen pushing test score miracles? Boatloads. Just like the Wall Street banking giants and their army of well-funded lobbyists, the major bankrollers of the corporate charter school movement and their for-profit leeches know that it always helps to buy off the governing bodies when implementing reforms.


http://schoolsmatter.blogspot.com/2009/07/gates-dell-walton-purchase-share-of.html.

[Deja Q]

1. But I thought Walton, Dell, and Gates were pro-America, pro-worker, pro-education?

[waiting for hope]

2. Why does this not surprise me?

The movie Wall-E came to mind:



And why give it all to Charters? Why not some to the Public System? And another thing that is bothering the hell out of me - the constant defending of Arne Duncan and Charter Schools ... once our Public School System has been flushed down the toilet, then our democracy or whatever is left of it, will be gone.

[ipaint]

5. That's what I don't get.

If charter schools are public why isn't this money going to all public schools. Why aren't these oh so wonderful philanthropists supporting all public schools.

Charter schools are a neocon's wet dream and vouchers/privatization is next. Classic corporate m.o.- defund-declare it a failure-privatize. The people behind this takeover are big money slime balls who don't do anything unless it advances their agenda to destroy government run anything, union bust and privatize.

If people want better public schools fund them. Don't get in bed with the worlds biggest corporatists and contribute to their demise.

[waiting for hope]

6. +1

NCLB was the cover to set the Public System up for failure - any embrace of a Charter System is validating NCLB - which, I hope, everyone knows does not work and was designed that way.

[ipaint]

7. Testing factories guaranteed to produce the failures needed to discredit

public education.

As far as the vulture philanthropists go, they never give anything more than 5% of their earnings specifically to avoid taxes. Perhaps if they paid their fair share of taxes we wouldn't have to put up with their insufferable egos and endless power/money grabs that leaves the public commons broken and battered.

They hang the man and flog the woman
That steal the goose from off the common,
But let the greater villain loose
That steals the common from the goose.
—Traditional nursery rhyme

[waiting for hope]

3. Kicking for content

[DCKit]

8. +1 n/t

[MichiganVote]

4. Like they know so much sitting in the billionaire dollar ivory tower.

[girl gone mad]

9. Why are we letting a bunch of college drop-outs..

(Gates, Dell, Waltons) influence our public education agenda?? They may have been successful in the business world, but they failed at completing their own educations. Now they want to determine how and what our children learn? Stick to outsourcing American jobs so you can pocket the wage difference, Mr. Gates and Mr. Dell.

[rucky]

10. Hardware, Software & Preferred Retailer.

Could they be more transparent?

[Hannah Bell]

11. nice catch.