Jeb Bush created the “Foundation for Educational Excellence” with two goals in mind. First, to burnish his credentials as a “reformer.” Second, to serve as a vehicle for advocating vouchers, charters, online learning, and high-stakes accountability.
Peter Greene writes that we now know who contributed large sums to Jeb’s FEE. We may safely assume that they shared Jeb’s policy goals.
He writes:
It is not an exact list in that donors are organized by ranges. So we know that Bloomberg donated somewhere between $1.2 million and $2.4 million, which is quite a margin of error. But it’s still a chunk of change, either way.
Joining Bloomberg Philanthropies in the Over a Cool Million Club are these folks, a completely unsurprising list:
Walton Family Foundation (between $3.5 mill and over $6 mill)
B&M Gates (between $3 mill and over $5 mill)
Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation (between $1.6 mill and $3.25 mill)
News Corporation (between $1.5 mill and $3 mill)
GE Foundation (between $2.5 mill and over $3 mill)
Helmsley Trust (at least $2 mill)
The Might Have Hit a Million Club includes
The Broad Foundation
Jacqueline Hume Foundation
Robertson Foundation
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Kovner Foundation
The Arnold Foundation
Beyond those, we find Florida businesses and a fair sampling of folks who have a stake in the FEE mission, like McGraw Hill and Renaissance Learning.
For the most part, it is a familiar list of billionaires and mere multimillionaires. What Greene notes is that there is no evidence of a grassroots base for Jeb’s activities. It is the same old, same old super-rich people–the 1%, if you will–fattening one of their favorites spokesmen.
Or, as he writes:
The truth about FEE is a reminder– for the gazillionth time– that we have yet to see an actual hard-core full-on grass roots movement in support of reformster policies. It’s also a reminder that if education issues were being decided on merit, or if all the Rich Person money just dried up tomorrow, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
Ed reform is a big delicate rosebush in the middle of the desert, and money is the water that keeps it alive. Shut off the water, and it’s done.
Since there have been no positive results for any of the billionaires’ favorite Big Ideas, there is always the chance they will get bored. Never underestimate the power of boredom among the glitterati.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
In the context of this post, please let’s not forget about all of the profits Jeb Bush made in companies he had ownership interests in and then severed ties with the minute he decided to run for president.
Jeb is a JOKE and a threat to American culture, but this is America 2015, and jokes and embarrassments have ruled in the White House before . . . .
“. . . jokes and embarrassments have ruled in the White House. . .
. . . ever since Uncle Ronnie Raygun!”
TAGO.
Privatization schemes are tax havens for the wealthy. Current laws allow them to get tax credits, and the whole charter school design without accountability allows them to obfuscate while hiding profits. In a sense, this is corporate welfare with the government underwriting and incentivizing the attacks on public schools. In addition, some states are allowing vouchers which, in many cases, are going to religious schools. Privatization is an endless game of cronyism and mutual hand washing that enriches the wealthy while causing harm to middle class teachers and poor students.http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/02/28/welfare-for-the-rich-private-school-tax-credit-programs-expanding/
Our government is bought and paid for by big $$$$$.
Yvonne,
Since in this country the government is supposed to be by, of, and for the people, do you have any idea where our share of that “big $$$$$” can be obtained?
Going from crisis straight to excellence.
Maybe we should start fighting natural disasters with sheer excellence.
Let’s end world hunger with rubrics and rigor and engagement.
Let’s find the cure for all cancer with rigged stats.
Let’s make it out of the solar system using only crafts and materials that have failed repeatedly.
Why don’t business people go back to creating private sector businesses instead of funding the takeover of the public sector?
I imagine some test scores might have gone up in low income places (including where I live) if parents were making more than 9 dollars an hour.
Are they out of ideas? The only thing the US private sector can come up with to turn a profit is take over a public sector service? Talk about low expectations.
Amazing how many of the companies and foundations that need educated workers and customers are funding alternatives to public education. Not so amazing is how many of the entrenched interests in public schools are fighting against losing their paycheck.
If public schools were doing their job no one would be spending money to supplant public schools. The job of public schools is teaching every child to graduate from high school prepared to do beginning college work — without need for remedial work.
Tom, it may surprise you to learn that the public schools actually outperform the alternatives, except when the alternatives screen out the hardest to educate students
Tom H, most of those companies funding privatization are outsourcing jobs to countries where workers make far less than in US
It is about cost, not skills
Tom H,
If I may ask. What is your connection to public schools? Would you please be more specific in letting us know who exactly are those “entrenched interests”? Name names, then we can go after them.
May I advise you to read your state’s constitution as to the fundamental purpose of your state’s public schools. If you need help respond and I’ll help.
TIA,
Duane
So Tom, what of students that wish to enter a trade and do not have the capability to do college work? Do we deny them a diploma and thus entry into a career in the trades? College isn’t for everyone. Let the colleges select whom they will. Those funding alternatives to public education are profiting from their actions, there is no altruism involved. If they and you get your way many people will lose their checks, and their pensions,…unless you are independently wealthy that could include you Tom. You may want to learn more about these people, their aim is to control much more than the schools.
….. crickets …. no answers from Tom.
Señor Swacker: glad to make the rheeality-to-reality transition clear so the word salad and cognitive dissonance make some sense…
Just one lone example. LAUSD under rheephormster John Deasy and his fawning rheephormista supporters on the BofEd [until they threw him under the bus] used and misused hundreds of millions of dollars of public monies to get them some iPads and a train wreck of a MISIS and other predictable catastrophes but now, dontcha know—
The enforcers and edufrauds that are still loving them some rheephorm blame it all on the supporters of public education! Yes, they’ve improved on the teflon defense! Now, anything the self-proclaimed “education reform” crowd does with their wrecking balls rubs off on us and sticks like glue to those for a “better education for all”!
It’s called the “Kindergarten Defense.”
Unfortunately, those that think like adults find it hard to buy into…
*Notice how I worked some business lingo into the last?
But from the POV of the Kindergarten Self-Defense Forces, when the rheephormsters actual performance in general clearly underperforms the very public schools that they denigrate at every turn, even (and sometimes especially) by their own skewed and tortured metrics—
That means that charters and vouchers and privatization are betterer and more specialer and mucho more excellenter!
And if there is any doubt: just ask them! Proof by assertion is just such a creatively disruptive 21st century cage busting achievement gap crushing innovation.
And if you should you have any doubts, I’ll see your 13th percentile and raise you a 90th, and get me some 100% charter graduation rates!
Go figure…
😎
It is sickening to read in Politico today that Elizabeth Warren has joined the ranks of people who think that the testing regime in the proposed reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is great for minorities. She and her staff are captives of the hype and perhaps the money machine.
The pseudo leftists that comprise the “New Left”, including many from the Civil Rights movement have either been bought off (see funding sources for many of those supposedly leftist groups-they’re really right of center groups) by the oligarchs or have chosen to listen only to those of the main stream status quo.
Reblogged this on Lloyd Lofthouse and commented:
Do we really want another BUSH for President?
To those who think that a child does not need a high school diploma for future jobs is condemning the child to a lifetime of poverty. A high school diploma should be the foundation for a job or the first year of college.
In the old days, when a farmer followed his ox while plowing his field an education was not that necessary; later on when the factory worker was on the assembly line, they did not need much education but later on, computerization became a necessary part of the job more education was needed and in the future an even more well educated employee will be necessary.
By the way, I was reading the posts by the teachers and retired teachers and I was saddened. Here is a good link to watch Bob Chapin of the NEA. Watch particularly after minute 21:00.