California Educator

SEPTEMBER 2010

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strings atta funding with How corporate foundations are shaping education policy A troubling power shift is occurring in public education: Corporations are wield- ing greater and greater influence over education policy and how the federal government funds public education. Cor- porate dollars are increasingly swaying policymakers to enact experimental edu- cation reforms — many of which are un- proven, and some of which actually harm our schools rather than help them. Reforms like U.S. Secretary of Educa- tion Arne Duncan’s Race to the Top, which provides misguided mandates such as paying teachers based on stu- dent test scores and creating charters that operate independently of local school boards, are a result of lobbying by corporate foundations controlled by wealthy benefactors such as Eli Broad, Bill and Melinda Gates, and the Walton family. It’s no surprise that Duncan’s top officials come from the ranks of corpo- rate foundations which, in the name of philanthropy, promote strict account- ability measur es tha t p unish our schools rather than help them. While the money from corporations is intended as a charitable donation, the ideology behind them — for the most part with the goal of running schools like a business — doesn’t always mean the best results for our public schools. After all, students aren’t widgets to be bought and sold. They come with dispa- rate abilities and needs and sometimes require individualized attention. And 8 California Educator | SEPTEMBER 2010

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