Education Trust, led by former Secretary of Education John King, sent two letters to the Biden administration, urging the administration not to allow states to receive waivers from the mandated federal testing. The signers of the letters were not the same. As State Commissioner in New York, King was a fierce advocate for Common Core and standardized testing.
Leonie Haimson, leader of Class Size Matters, the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy, and board member of the Network for Public Education, wrote this about the pro-testing coalition assembled by King:
I asked my assistant Michael Horwitz to figure out which organizations were on the first Ed Trust letter pushing against state testing waivers, but not the letter that just came out, advocating against allowing flexibility by using local assessments instead. National PTA, NAN (Al Sharpton’s group), LULAC, KIPP and a few others did drop off the list.
I then asked Leonie if she could add the amounts of funding to these organizations by the Gates Foundation and the Walton Foundation and she replied:
The largest beneficiary of their joint funding among these organizations has been KIPP at over $97M, then Ed Trust at nearly $58 million, who spearheaded both letters. Also TNTP at $54M, NACSA at $44M, Jeb Bush’s FEE at nearly $32 M and 50Can at $29M. [TNTP used to be called “The New Teachers Project,” and was created by Michelle Rhee.] Michael Horwitz did the research.
- National Urban League [Gates funding: $18M since 2011] [Walton: State & local chapters $3.9M since 2009]
- National Action Network [not listed]
- UnidosUS [Gates: $11.5M since 2011] [Walton: $557,833 since 2017, including $382,833 in collaboration with Ed Trust]
- League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) [not listed on Gates Foundation site but cited on LULAC site as “partner” and cited here and here] [Walton: $25,000 in 2015]
- Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) [Gates: $3.9M since 2011] [Walton: not listed]
- National Center for Learning Disabilities [Gates: $5M since 2014] [Walton: $1.6M since 2016]
- Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) [not listed]
- National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools [Gates: $1.9M since 2019] [Walton: $1.5M since 2015]
- The Education Trust [Gates: $49.1M since 2012] [Walton: $7.6M since 2017]
- Education Reform Now [$1M since 2016] [Walton: $18.7M since 2010]
- Alliance for Excellent Education [Gates: $22.8M since 2010] [no Walton grants listed]
- Data Quality Campaign [Gates: $26 M since 2009] [Walton: $700,000 since 2014]
- Teach Plus [Gates: $23M since 2012] [Walton: $2.6M since 2014]
- Educators for Excellence [Gates: $12.4M since 2011] [Walton: $6.6M since 2012]
- Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS) [not listed]
- National Alliance for Public Charter Schools [Gates: $21.5M since 2009] [ Walton: $22.7M since 2007]
- National PTA [Gates: $5M since 2009] [Walton: only local AK PTAs listed]
- KIPP [Gates: $18.4M since 2019] [Walton: $74,268,059 since 2001]
- Collaborative for Student Success [not listed on the Gates grant website, but Gates is its largest funder, said to be $4M in 2020 alone, via New Venture Fund ]
The following orgs were on the second letter, but not the first: many more obviously pro-charter, right-wing and more local organizations:
- A+ Colorado [Gates: Unlisted] [Walton: $200,000 since 2018]
- A+ Education Partnership [not listed]
- Aligned [not listed]
- America Succeeds [Gates: $388,780 since 2016] [Walton: $1,390,000 since 2016]
- Association of American Educators [Gates: not listed] [Walton: $3,896,245 since 1995]
- BEST NC [not listed]
- Business Roundtable [not listed]
- Chiefs for Change [Gates: $4,125,000 since 2016] [Walton: $2,200,000 since 2015]
- Colorado Succeeds [Gates: $860,000 since 2013] [Walton: $3,102,500 since 2010]
- EdVoice [Gates: Unlisted] [Walton: $2,068,000 since 2012]
- Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd) [Gates: $12,226,665 since 2010] [Walton: $20,069,781 since 2009]
- Great MN Schools [Gates: not listed] [Walton: Contributed $250,000 in 2017 to Minnesota Comeback, which funds Great MN Schools]
- 50Can, Inc. [Gates: $2,774,492 since 2011] [Walton: $26,180,321 since 2011] [Note: 50Can itself is not a signatory on the letter, but the local chapters listed below did sign]
- HawaiiKidsCAN [not listed]
- JerseyCAN [Gates: Unlisted] [Walton: Not listed on the Walton Foundation’s grants list, but the organization’s site lists the Walton Foundation as a contributor]
- NewMexicoKidsCAN [not listed]
- Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education [Gates: $826,431 since 2010] [Walton: $367,500 since 2018]
- Massachusetts Parents United [Gates: not listed] [Walton: $1,320,000 since 2017]
- Minnesota Business Partnership [not listed]
- National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) [Gates: $18,666,832 since 2009 and earlier] [Walton: $25,608,051 since 2005]
- NCTQ [Gates: $16,131,088 since 2009 and earlier] [Walton: $1,813,500 since 2012]
- NewMexicoKidsCAN [not listed]
- Ohio Excels [Gates: $2,212,178 since 2018] [Walton: $300,000 since 2018]
- Opportunity 180 [not listed]
- Our Turn [not listed]
- Parent Revolution [Gates: not listed] [Walton: $9,384,566 since 2009]
- Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence [Gates: $5,765,122 since XXXX] [Walton: not listed]
- Results for America [Gates: $5,727,880 since 2009 and earlier] [Walton: not listed]
- SchoolHouse Connection [Gates: not listed] [Walton: $177,785 since 2019]
- Tennesseans for Student Success [Gates Foundation: Contributed $2,184,252 since 2010 to Tennessee Association of Business Foundation, which funds Tennesseeans for Student Success]
- Tennessee State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) [Gates: $17,230,344 since 2010] [Walton: $2,625,000 since 2015]
- The National Parents Union [Gates: not listed] [Walton: Not listed on the Walton Foundation’s grants list, but reporting found they’d contributed at least $500,000. They also contributed $1,320,000 to the organization’s forerunner, Massachusetts Parents United, see above]
- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce [Gates: $4,862,703 since 2017] [Walton: not listed]
- Thomas B. Fordham Institute [Gates: $9,891,462 since 2009 and earlier] [Walton: $7,457,780 since 2002]
- TNTP [Gates: $45,133,044 since 2009 and earlier] [Walton: $8,839,473 since 2017]
- Washington Roundtable/Partnership for Learning [Gates: $11,035,414 since 2009 and earlier] [Walton: not listed]
Leonie Haimson
leoniehaimson@gmail.com
Follow on twitter @leoniehaimson
Host of “Talk out of School” WBAI radio show and podcast at https://talk-out-of-school.simplecast.com/
Diane Ravitch's blog 
FOLLOW THE MONEY! and then STOP POLITICALLY DRIVEN EDUCATION!
That’s two — only two — billionaires sticking their fingers up our government’s nose and yanking us all around by the nose. One has his finger in the Republican nostril, the other in the Democrat nostril. How can they call it philanthropy? How can these groups receiving money and being used to buy influence be considered legitimate?
making money the only ‘legitimate’ goal now?
Apparently, disturbingly so.
Ciedie and LeftCoast I think there’s a messy set of distinctions here, however.
That is, it seems to me that those with lesser money ARE mostly about the money; but some are mixed with short-sighted educational views where they have bought and swallowed-whole the neo-liberal propaganda, including politicians who seem to be willing to openly trash what was written in their federal and many of their states’ founding literature.
However, the farther “up the ladder” you get, and the more money these oligarchs and corporations have, the more the greedy wishes of the lesser-monied transform into political-ideological interests . . . to control the whole thing AWAY from the principles embedded in democracy and TOWARDS a neo-liberal buy-and-sell Koch-like fantasia where THEY are in charge.
At least, that’s how it seems to me at this stage of the game. And I seriously doubt many are self-reflective about what they are doing. CBK
What’s really disturbing about the tens of ed reform orgs is how LOCKSTEP they are.
It’s as if Gates and Walton funded tens of orgs to make it appear that there’s diverse opinion or debate in ed reform, but they’re all really one large group.
No dissenters from ANY ed reform proposal or initiative, ever.
Strict compliance with the market-based vision and agenda. That’s the echo chamber the billionaire funders have created.
I just hope Ohio gets the mandated tests over with. Check that box and then public schools can get on with work on recovery from the pandemic. Line em up and get em in for the ed reform testing and then the whole echo chamber can move on to their next project, which seems to be “frantically promoting and funding vouchers”.
Are they testing all the charter and voucher programs or don’t they care how far they are falling behind? (snark)
Ohio cut public school funding last year and this year they are replacing some of the funding which ed reformers are selling to the public as an “increase”.
So that’s the sum total contribution of this “movement” to Ohio public school students for 2020 and 2021. They cut our funding and then replaced some of it. They did manage to get an increase for charters and vouchers, however.
Public school students would have literally been better off with no “advocacy” from the ed reform lobby at all. It’s a net loss for public school students, again.
I also fear the ed reformers in state government are going to hold up federal funding to public schools until they can get their demands met on privatization initiatives.
That’s what they did to get a voucher law in Illinois- they held up all public school funding for two years until they got public funding for private school students.
Once again public school students were just a mechanism, a lever, they used to further their agenda. Public schools are considered only in the context of how public schools can be used to further charter and private school voucher initiatives.
It would also be interesting to know how much money various billionaires sent to both candidates in the presidential campaign. When there were a dozen or so candidates in the Democratic primary, most of them were not receiving big dollar donations as they were trying to compete with Bernie. When the field narrowed, Biden announced he would be accepting larger amounts of cash. Billionaires have weaponized their wealth, and it is influencing public policy.
Can they buy the truth?
Billionaires’ outsized wallets suppress truth. After twenty years of privatization, testing and punish, there is not a shred of truth in any of it. The privatization steam roller keeps crushing public schools as billionaires write more checks and the federal and some state governments continue to incentivize privatization schemes.
Ohio Algebra “Can they buy the truth?”
The Big They have enough money to contribute big to both sides so that, whoever wins, They will have their attention. CBK
RT and CK, you both speak wisdom.
No.
The central question is who installed Ian Rosenblum and allowed him to rule that the federal testing would resume this spring?
It was no accident that he was installed before the Secretary of Education position was filled.
Or do these people just appoint themselves?
I suppose its much easier that way.
Someone in the White House has been choosing deputy assistant secretaries and other staff before the confirmation of either Secretary Cardona or Deputy Secretary-designate Cindy Marten.
No one knows, but it must be someone who worked for Arne Duncan. My guess is Carmel Martin, who had a high-level post in the Obama Department of Education, where she supported the “bipartisan consensus” on testing and charter schools, and was most recently at the Center for American Progress, the neoliberal Democratic think tank. She is now a member of the Biden Domestic Policy Council. If Carmel Martin is running the Education Department, you can be sure she is consulting Arne Duncan and John King. Deja vu.
Maryland just announced that they are delaying the tests this year (giving them in the fall instead…ugh). I guess the MSDE got so many angry phone calls and letters from parents/teachers that they decided to back down for now. Here’s hoping that John King (Ed Trust/MD) is experiencing sleepless nights and a reduction in income!
The info. Horwitz prepared is evidence that Gates sought to own the government of the United States and he has been successful.
Linda Yes . . . I thought Gates’ influence was bad, but not THAT bad. The numbers in the note are overwhelming. Did someone vote Gates in as “Oligarch in Charge” while we weren’t looking?
Oh . . . I forgot. Voting will disappear when Oligarchs get hold of everything under the sun. CBK
Thank you for all who helped to produce this rapid response and effective use of only two of the many databases for tracking the role of money in shaping policy.
I think it may be useful to put a timeline around some these flows of money and federal policies.
MAY 2020. Guidance for ESEA section 8401(b)(3)(A) testing waivers were published in May 2020 and almost every state or comparable jurisdiction requested and received these waivers for the 2019-2020 school year, well before the full force of the pandemic required large scale changes in schools. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/05/19/2020-10740/notice-of-waivers-granted-under-section-8401-of-the-elementary-and-secondary-education-act-of-1965.
FEBRUARY 3, 2021. The Education Trust sent a letter to Dr. Miguel Cardona. This was after his nomination but before his confirmation on March 1. This letter was signed by 18 organizations in addition to the Education Trust. Find the letter here. https://edtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Joint-Letter-to-Dr.-Miguel-Cardona-Urging-Rejection-of-Waivers-to-Annual-State-Wide-Assessment-Requirements-for-the-2020-21-School-Year-February-3-2021.pdf
The February 3 letter ends with two footnotes. The first is for McKinsey & Co.’s data about achievement before schools closed and the transition to remote learning began. This analysis includes “epidemiological scenarios” for learning loss (in months) for students who are white, black, and Hispanic. As usual, Mc Kinsey & Co. cares about the economic value of test scores “We estimate that the average K–12 student in the United States could lose $61,000 to $82,000 in lifetime earnings (in constant 2020 dollars), or the equivalent of a year of full-time work, solely as a result of COVID-19–related learning losses…. This translates into an estimated impact of $110 billion annual earnings across the entire current K–12 cohort.” https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/covid-19-and-student-learning-in-the-united-states-the-hurt-could-last-a-lifetime
The second footnote refers to a Bellwether Education report justifying their use of “crisis” rhetoric about school attendance data. The report estimates that about three million school-age children had difficulty engaging in or accessing education in the spring and fall 2020. That estimate was based on data from multiple sources, including media reports.
I hope Dr. Cordova understands that McKinsey & Co and Bellwether Education are not great sources of trustworthy information about public schools. https://bellwethereducation.org/publication/missing-margins-estimating-scale-covid-19-attendance-crisis.
FEBRUARY 22. On this date Ian Rosenblum, “Delegated the Authority to Perform the Functions and Duties of the Assistant Secretary of Elementary Education” announced “guidance for state testing” with particular attention to the conditions required if waivers of any find were requested. Note that Dr, Cardova has not yet been confirmed as Secretary of Education. I have yet to discover how he was granted authority (or grabbed it) to assert national policy on testing for the 2020-2021 school year. It is worth noting that Rosenblum’s prior employer had been The Education Trust, (New York). Here is the Guidance letter.https://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/stateletters/dcl-assessments-and-acct-022221.pdf
FEBRUARY 23. In no time flat, The Education Trust sent this second letter to the U.S. Department of Education, titled “Response From Civil Rights, Social Justice, Disability Rights, Immigration Policy, Business, and Education Organizations to the U.S. Department of Education’s Updated Guidance on Key ESSA Provisions in 2020–21.” This letter was signed by 30 organizations in addition to the Education Trust. This letter emphasized that local assessments were not suitable for accountability:
…
”We want to be clear: The Department must not, as part of its promised state-by-state “flexibility,” grant waivers to states that would allow them to substitute local assessments in place of statewide assessments or to only assess a subset of students. By design, these local assessments do not hold all students to the same standards and expectations. They do not offer appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities or English learners, as required under federal law for statewide assessments; they are not peer reviewed to ensure quality and prevent bias; and the results of these assessments will not be comparable from district to district.”
In effect, the only accountability measures that matter to The Education Trust and those who signed on to these letters are features of a factory model of education. Standardization is the ultimate criterion for data entering into decisions about federal policy. This factory model is also positioned as if the primary way to address equity and civils rights. We must “hold all students to the same standards and expectations.”
The February 23 letter also articulates a clear distain for assessments most likely to be meaningful to teachers, students, and parent caregivers; namely teacher and district developed evaluations of learning with these judgements student-specific, curriculum relevant, informed by face-to=face conversations and providing a meaningful pathway for guiding students.
“In effect, the only accountability measures that matter to The Education Trust and those who signed on to these letters are features of a factory model of education. Standardization is the ultimate criterion for data entering into decisions about federal policy. This factory model is also positioned as if the primary way to address equity and civils rights. We must “hold all students to the same standards and expectations.”
Thank you, Laura, for this confirmation of my layman’s observations of the ed-reform policy leviathan of recent decades. Exquisite irony in the neoliberal/ libertarian promotion of ‘school choice’ as an escape from “factory-model” traditional public schooling. The Gates/ Walton funding of all these pro-testing letter-signers betrays the marriage of neoliberals and libertarians backing the onerous accountability systems [fed micromgt] that impose “factory model” on traditional publics, pushing unhappy campers out: those who buy the propaganda to charters promising higher scores, those alienated to charters & vouchers that duck the system. They have all bases covered.
Two names stand out: Gates and Walton
How many elected officials at the state and federal level do those two own?
Interesting questions, and even more interesting funders…
President and CEO of Education Trust, over 500K in compensation in 2019.
Serving Gates is quite lucrative.
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/521982223/09_2020_prefixes_47-52%2F521982223_201906_990_2020091517297872
It’s rumored here in MD that John King Jr. wants to take a run for Governor (Hogan is term limited and may run for POTUS). I don’t think he will like the lowly salary of the top MD State employee….or maybe it’s all about the power and being able to push an agenda? In any case, MSDE decided to cancel tests this spring and give them in the fall instead likely due to parental/teacher/student outrage. I’m hoping that King is having some serious loss of sleep now that his cash cow (Ed Trust/MD) is on shaky ground. Here’s hoping that the whole testing industry and ed deform movement comes to a crashing halt! Won’t help my kids, but ALL children deserve to be treated humanely and to develop a love of learning.
Imagine if these vast sums spent by Gates to undermine US K-12 education were spent on something worthwhile–on books or eyeglasses or warm coats for poor kids, for example.
So sickening, this. The most dangerous of these oligarchs are the ones who believe their own bs.
Bob . . . . or spent on taxes? CBK
Well, yes, CBK. That’s the real issue, isn’t it? But that’s not going to happen, is it, not when our politicians are these oligarchs’ personal wind-up toys and bobblehead dolls?
Do we know of any other Western country where such clearly documented influence by rich people on education is legal?
I think instead of educators writing letters to the Biden administration, the possibility of a lawsuit need to be explored. The basis of it could be the data Leonie collected.
Good points.
The university faculty who serve men like Charles Koch and Bill Gates, the think tanks that betray the common good while pretending otherwise and, the politicians who implement the billionaires’ public policy are America’s shame.
The reason why I think letters may not matter much is because the Biden administration may not believe that it was the people who won the election for them. For example, here is a Time article titled
“The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election”
There was a conspiracy unfolding behind the scenes, one that both curtailed the protests and coordinated the resistance from CEOs. Both surprises were the result of an informal alliance between left-wing activists and business titans.
https://time.com/5936036/secret-2020-election-campaign/
Everyone should read that Time article.
Mate One of the relevant data fields to look at is the way the State constitutions are or were originally written . . . in terms of their recognition of the obligation of the State to educate its children. I’ve seen a few of them in my communications with my student/teachers, so not a “study” as such; but the ones I saw were clear about their intention to educate.
Also, it’s not the Gates’ et al money per se, but the political and policy influence that rides in on it. Did you see that video interview that Diane posted? What’s going on really IS a sustained and well-funded attack on all-things-public and so on the basic principles that underpin small-d democratic government. CBK
Are you saying, legally we cannot do anything against the influence of rich people which would be considered bribery in all the Western or even European countries I know of?
Mate “Are you saying, legally we cannot do anything against the influence of rich people which would be considered bribery in all the Western or even European countries I know of?”
I cannot answer your question. I’m just exploring some preliminary thinking on the matter in terms of my experience, and under the question of whether or not a legal case needs to be made. (I am not a lawyer.) CBK
“. . . in terms of their recognition of the obligation of the State to educate its children.”
I did that study and I discuss it in Ch. 1 “The Purpose of Public Education” in “Infidelity to Truth: Education Malpractice in American Public Education.”
I distilled the stated reasons in the various state constitutions and here is what I believe is a good description of the purpose of public education:
“The purpose of public education is to promote the welfare of the individual so that each person may savor the right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and the fruits of their own industry.”
Thank you, Duane. CBK
MATE: Thank you for posting that TIME article about the behind-the-scenes movements to keep the election fair and sound. It reads like a good novel–I couldn’t put it down until it was over. Below is the link again.
Now, if we can do some of the same to ward off privatization generally, but specifically in education. CBK
https://time.com/5936036/secret-2020-election-campaign/
Interestingly, all the right wing acquaintances I have interpreted the article as proof that the elections were rigged and billionaires and other influential people conspired against Trump, the president of the People. This interpretation was spread by media all over the world.
Mate ” . . . all the right wing acquaintances I have interpreted the article as proof that the elections were rigged and billionaires and other influential people conspired against Trump . . . “
No surprise there . . . where truth is concerned, “conspiracy” is called “good planning.”
However, it MUST have taken a good amount of SELECTIVE READING to overlook the several references to this coalition’s main purpose . . . a fair election, regardless of the outcome, and to preserve democratic norms; not to mention trying to head off the con that they had the foresight to see. (If I have time, I’ll excerpt them and post them here.) But I have sent that article to several people who, I know, will be interested.
Here’s another relevant article from the Washington Post by Dana Milbank: Republicans Aren’t Fighting Democrats, They are Fighting Democracy. CBK
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/03/05/republicans-arent-fighting-democrats-theyre-fighting-democracy/?arc404=true&utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F3060df9%2F6043b0929d2fda4c88ff0918%2F597c3073ade4e26514d23e47%2F17%2F68%2F6043b0929d2fda4c88ff0918
I liked that article by Milbank
Unfortunately, people tend to see what they want to see.
Is the pandemic’s politicization puzzling… maybe not. Trump played some part in making it a battle between the right and left. However, ultimately, it was in his best political interest to mitigate the flu’s effects. So, why did a situation develop where neighbors turned against neighbors in 2020-2021, unlike 1918?
Consider the similarities between Dr. Fauci and another “man of science”-
Fauci’s (1) flat affect (2) emotionless call for science
(3) his unwillingness to admit he was wrong when he initially said that the epidemic wouldn’t be a threat to the U.S. and, his claim that masks wouldn’t help at a time when Asian doctors were adamant that they would (4) his fawning fan club characterized as a grass roots movement, one that keeps him as Biden’s pandemic voice and (5) his lukewarm and late admission that there are human costs to isolation.
“Bill Gates and Dr. Fauci talk regularly about Covid”.
Americans feel “science’s” admonitions have a stranglehold on them depriving them of power. Different messaging from the beginning of the pandemic could have united us, but that requires the correct appeal to emotions.
Trump may have lost the election because of his Covid response. So, the end result- Biden’s election is good but, we’re still under the thumb, perceived and real, of the oligarchs like Bill Gates. It sets the stage for the 2022 and 2024 elections.
Bill Gates, as readers of this blog know, has the power that money buys which he exerts in government departments of health and education. And, he has a pattern of destroying communities with his education policy.
[…] evidence of that, Leonie Haimson, executive director of Class Size Matters, posted on Ravitch’s personal blog the names of all the organizations that signed on to the […]