The New York State Allies of Parents and Education issued this “action alert”:
Dear Allies,
URGENT – PLEASE TAKE ACTION and DEMAND the Board of Regents and NY State Education Department RETURN the MISGUIDED Gates Foundation Grant.
Last month, NY Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia asked the Board of Regents to approve a new $225,000 grant from the Gates Foundation for enhanced communication efforts around the standards, testing and data collection — to convince parents that State Ed is on the right track in all these areas. The Board voted 14 -2 to approve this grant, with only Regents Cashin and Ouderkirk voting no and Regent Johnson was absent.
The Gates Foundation has been behind some of the most controversial — and unsuccessful — education policies in history, including persuading states to adopt the Common Core standards, evaluate teachers based on test scores, and expand the collection and disclosure of highly personal student information as part of its $100 million dollar inBloom project. .
Luckily, New York parents and educators across the state defeated inBloom, but the state is still planning to expand its collection of student data from early childhood through college. The new standards that NYSED has developed are still developmentally inappropriate and little different from the Common Core and there is still too much emphasis on flawed high-stakes testing. Moreover, NYSED has failed to enforce the state student privacy law, passed in 2014 in the wake of the controversy over inBloom — though the legal deadline for implementation was more than four years ago. Meanwhile, NYSED’s own data system has been audited twice by the NYS Comptroller, and found to be highly insecure and vulnerable to breaches.
PLEASE CLICK HERE to TAKE ACTION and DEMAND that the Regents give back the Gates funds and instead of trying to hoodwink us into accepting State Ed’s flawed policies, include parents in authentic decision-making on all issues affecting our children, including standards, teacher evaluation, and privacy. The State Education Department should also be barred from any effort to expand student data collection until the 2014 student privacy law has been fully enforced and the SED’s own data system made secure.
Thank you,
NYSAPE.org
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Done and shared. Please send to your colleagues and other people that care about the future of education in New York. Teachers are tired of being a puppet for Gates’ evil empire.
LikeLike
Although I’m not a resident of N.Y., I wrote a letter because Cuomo’s state should set an example that American oligarchs raging at the gate will not succeed in pillaging public schools.
LikeLike
In 2016, total state spending (state and local) on education in New York State was around $61 BILLION dollars. So this grant amounts to about 3 millionths of state education spending. That’s 3 millionths! Why in god’s name would anyone with any political sense accept an additional 3 millionths of revenue to the entire state/local budget for education, from a highly controversial and disruptive source, unless the people accepting the money really, really liked the guy giving the money? This example is strong evidence of the depths to which otherwise intelligent people will lower themselves to curry favor with the rich. This grant is proof of the deep moral corruption that afflicts our government. Not Gates’ government; OUR government. (If Gates really wants to help out, he should send us several billion dollars with no strings attached. In fact, Gates could just liquidate his foundation entirely and donate the money to the Governors’ Association, so the states could share in the wealth as they see fit.)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Elia is probably ready to bail fom NY DOE before it implodes and looking for a way to further curry favor with Gates so she can step into a cushy high paying job at Gates Foundation. This pattern repeats itself over and over: superintendents come in and screw things up and then bail for another higher paying gig and leave someone else to clean up the mess they made.
Elia is used to doing whatever Bill tells he to do (she did it down in Florida) so she would be a perfect fit at Gates Foundation.
Id even write her a recommendation if she asked.
LikeLike
Both Poet and Cohen summarize the situation accurately.
When officials of the Gates Foundation give commencement and graduation speeches at state universities it should be made clear to them that property created for the common good is off limits to the minions of the world’s richest villainthropist.
LikeLike
Elia is more suitable for one of the right wing states, not New York. She is a “reform” pawn, and New York fights back against injustice. There are too many savvy people in New York that will resist and work against her.
LikeLike
She is just doing what Cuomo wants and there are a lot of Dumbocrats in NY (including on the Regents) who support and keep voting for Cuomo, which is why she will get away with this the way she has got away with everything else.
LikeLike
imagining actual philanthropy taking place…
LikeLike
The money is for a Gates approved ” communication” effort. In other words,the state becomes a propaganda machine for this billionaire’s agenda, without any regard for the judgment of professionals in education.
LikeLike
Communication is not the awkward Gates’ strength. He is more of a manipulative steam roller that crushes opposition.
LikeLike
He speaks. He does not listen.
LikeLike
Gates doesn’t need to use a steamroller in most cases.
He just buys out anyone who might oppose him. (It’s only in cases where people refuse his money that he needs to crush them)
That’s what the grant is all about.
That’s also what his past grants to the NEA and AFT were about , to buy the support of Weingarten and Eskelsen-Garcia on common core, testing and VAM.
It worked quite well in the past, so there is no reason to change the strategy.
LikeLike
His money is his weapon of choice.
LikeLike
If Gates is involved, it’s spelled “Con-manication”
LikeLike
NY Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia asked the Board of Regents to approve a new $225,000 grant from the Gates Foundation for enhanced communication efforts around the standards, testing and data collection — to convince parents that State Ed is on the right track in all these areas.”
In other words, lies/propaganda to convince the people of NY that all the failed policies are actually great
Any member of the Regents who actually OKs this should be immediately removed from their position — and escorted from their office with an armed guard to make sure they won’t steal anything ELSe from the NY public on their way out the door.
Because make no mistake: this is a fraudulent effort to steal NY tax funds to continue policies that have already done great damage to the public.
LikeLike
“steal anything else”- where the villianthropists lurk, hide your kids and communities and latch your purses and wallets.
LikeLike
Betty Rosa is the Regents member peopleeople should really write to because she has claimed concern about testing and other Cuomo/Elia policies.
Perhaps her concern is genuine, but here is a chance to prove where her loyalties lie.
I won’t hold my breath. These people are always very high minded when they are running for their positions but when the pressure builds from the top they get in line like obedient little boys and girls and do what they are told to do.
LikeLike