Funding “Education Reform”: The Big Three Foundations
Three major foundations are literally pouring billions of dollars into the education reform and privatization effort.
Walton Foundation
ALEC’s Schoolhouse Rock
Indiana Schools Superintendent Tony Bennett was the darling of the education reform movement. In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Bennett and Governor Mitch Daniels created the country’s largest school voucher program, enacted rigid teacher evaluation requirements, and imposed school grading systems, in many cases using “model legislation” from their friends at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
Wisconsin’s Voucher Vultures
Scott Jensen began his career shilling for corporations at the Wisconsin state capitol as a lobbyist for Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce in the 1980s. He was then hired by the Republican Assembly Caucus as staff director and within a few years moved into the position of chief of staff for then-Governor Tommy Thompson. After a couple of years, he ran for public office himself and served as an Assembly representative for fourteen years, including as the speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly for some of that time.
Tall tale signs
Thanks to the generosity of billionaires with names like Gates and Walton, not to mention a growing roster of hedge fund managers, the US is now home to an astonishing number of so-called education reform groups. But beneath the grandiose claims of standing for excellence and putting children and students first—not to mention the ubiquitous images of high achieving minority youngsters—lies a surprisingly lucrative agenda. Scratch the surface and you’ll find a whole lot of green behind the education reform movement—and it’s not grassroots.
