{"id":42287,"date":"2014-05-12T12:00:33","date_gmt":"2014-05-12T11:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=42287"},"modified":"2015-05-05T21:35:00","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T20:35:00","slug":"how-to-criticize-big-philanthropy-effectively","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2014\/05\/how-to-criticize-big-philanthropy-effectively\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Criticize \u201cBig Philanthropy\u201d Effectively"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bill<\/a>

Bill Gates (DFID, 2010, Wikimedia Commons)<\/p><\/div>\n

Criticizing philanthropy (or philanthropists) of any kind is tricky. To most people, a negative appraisal sounds off-base and churlish\u2014yet another instance of \u201cNo good deed goes unpunished.\u201d Criticizing the immense private foundations that finance and shape the market-model \u201creform\u201d of public education in the United States produces the same incredulity and indignation. \u201cYou\u2019re going after Bill Gates?\u201d I\u2019ve been asked many times. \u201cHe\u2019s doing good work in Africa. Leave him alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Actually, the Gates Foundation\u2019s work in Africa has some serious critics, but suppose, for the sake of argument, that the foundation does much good there. Suppose that Bloomberg Philanthropies announces tomorrow that it will spend $1 billion over the next five years to promote gun control in the United States. Would those of us who oppose market-model ed reform but support mosquito nets in Africa and gun control here still criticize the mega-foundations? Would we do it in the same way?<\/p>\n

There are at least three approaches to evaluating the role of big philanthropy in ed reform. Understanding how they differ makes for a more effective analysis and stronger arguments.<\/p>\n

The first approach focuses on the failure of specific policies pushed by the foundations and the harm they do to teaching and learning. For example, a critique of using value-added modeling to measure the effectiveness of individual teachers would deal with the inherent unreliability of the calculations, the nonsensical use of faulty formulas to measure growth in learning, and the negative consequences of rating teachers with such a flawed tool.<\/p>\n

The second approach examines how big philanthropy\u2019s ed-reform activity undermines the democratic control of public education, an institution that is central to a functioning democracy. The questions to ask are these: Has the public\u2019s voice in the governance of public education been strengthened or weakened? Are politicians more or less responsive? Is the press more or less free to inform them?<\/p>\n

This approach pinpoints certain types of foundation activity: paying the salaries of high-level personnel to do ed-reform work within government departments; making grants to education departments dependent on specific politicians remaining in office; promoting mayoral control and state control of school districts instead of control by elected school boards; financing scores of ed-reform nonprofits to implement and advocate for the foundations\u2019 pet policies\u2014activity that has undermined the autonomy and creativity of the nonprofit sector in education; funding (and thus influencing) the national professional associations of government officials, including the National Conference of State Legislatures, the United States Conference of Mayors, and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices; and funding media coverage of education.<\/p>\n

The third approach examines large private foundations as peculiar and problematic institutions in a democracy. This approach considers big philanthropy in general and uses ed reform as one example of how mega-foundations undermine democratic governance and civil society. The objections to wealthy private corporations dedicated to doing good (as they see it) have remained the same since the early twentieth century when the first mega-foundations were created: they intervene in public life but aren\u2019t accountable to the public; they are privately governed but publicly subsidized by being tax exempt; and in a country where money translates into political power, they reinforce the problem of plutocracy\u2014the exercise of power derived from wealth.<\/p>\n

Of course, all three approaches to criticizing big philanthropy can be part of the same discussion, but the distinctions help to create a more coherent point of view. They make answering the inevitable challenges easier. Here are some of those challenges and possible responses.<\/p>\n

Challenge: <\/strong>You seem to believe that ed-reform philanthropy is some sort of nefarious conspiracy. Here we go again with conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n

Response:<\/em><\/strong> By definition conspiracies are secret and illegal. The ed-reform movement isn\u2019t a conspiracy. When people or organizations work together politically in a democracy, it\u2019s a coalition or movement. This is true even when\u2014as is the case with the ed-reform movement\u2014huge amounts of money are being spent by mega-foundations and private meetings take place.<\/em><\/p>\n

Challenge: <\/strong>You wrongly depict the ed-reform movement and the foundations involved as homogeneous, with everyone marching in lockstep. The movement is actually very heterogeneous and rife with disagreements.<\/p>\n

Response:<\/em><\/strong> Coalitions and movements are rarely, if ever, completely homogeneous. Yet their members agree generally on basic principles and goals. That\u2019s how they make progress. The ed-reform movement is no different. The most significant policy difference among ed-reform foundations is on vouchers\u2014the per-pupil funding that parents can transfer from a district public school to a private school, often including religious schools. Some foundations, for example, Walton, support vouchers; others, for example, Gates and Broad, do not. Aside from vouchers, there\u2019s much agreement among the ed reformers on broad policy questions as well as principles and goals.<\/em><\/p>\n

Challenge: <\/strong>You constantly impugn the motives of the mega-foundations. Do you really think Melinda Gates or Eli Broad wants to hurt children?<\/p>\n

Response:<\/em><\/strong> Of course, the philanthropists aim to do good, but they define \u201cgood\u201d for themselves and others. The directors of the Walton Foundation, for example, believe that school vouchers will improve education. By supporting vouchers, they believe, and claim, they are doing good. So it\u2019s not productive to question their motives. But that doesn\u2019t mean that their positions and activity are above reproach. When philanthropists enter the public policy fray, they\u2014like everyone else\u2014legitimately become fair game for criticism and opposition. Tax-exempt status shouldn\u2019t create sacred cows.<\/em><\/p>\n

Challenge:<\/strong> Private foundations spend perhaps $1.5 or $2 billion annually on K\u201312 education in the United States. That\u2019s minuscule compared to the more than $525 billion<\/a> that government spends every year. You exaggerate the influence that private foundations exert with their drop-in-the-bucket donations.<\/p>\n

Response:<\/em><\/strong> Government spending on public education goes to basic and fixed expenses. Most states and urban school districts can\u2019t cover their costs\u2014they run deficits and\/or cut outlays. Sociologists have shown that discretionary spending\u2014spending beyond what covers ordinary running costs\u2014is where policy is shaped and changed. The mega-foundations use their grants as leverage: they give money to grantees who agree to adopt the foundations\u2019 pet policies. Resource-starved states and school districts feel compelled to say yes to millions of dollars even when many strings are attached or they consider the policies unwise.<\/em><\/p>\n

Challenge: <\/strong>Private foundations don\u2019t weaken democracy. They add another voice to the democratic debate.\u00a0This increases pluralism and actually strengthens democracy.<\/p>\n

Response: <\/em><\/strong>Money translates too easily into political power in the United States, and the country is becoming increasingly plutocratic. Mega-foundations exacerbate this tendency. In the realm of public education policy, they have too much influence, and this undermines democracy.<\/em><\/p>\n

_________________________<\/p>\n

Joanne Barkan<\/em>\u2019s writing on philanthropy, private foundations, and public education reform has appeared in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Nonprofit Quarterly, the Washington Post, Dissent<\/a>, and other publications.<\/em><\/p>\n

A <\/em>version of this post<\/em><\/a> appeared on Diane Ravitch\u2019s blog on March 28, 2014.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 dissentmagazine.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They intervene in public life but aren\u2019t accountable to the public; they are privately governed but publicly subsidized by being tax exempt; and in a country where money translates into political power, they reinforce the problem of plutocracy\u2014the exercise of power derived from wealth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-focus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}