Is it just coincidence that groups receiving grants from the Gates Foundation are overwhelmingly supporting Common Core?
Gates Giving for Its Teacher AgendaThe Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, whose priorities include global health and U.S. education, has made initiatives focused on teacher quality a key dimension of its recent grantmaking strategy. Click to read full ED Week story
The people behind the Common Core State StandardsBy Lyndsey Layton | The Washington Post
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation bankrolled the effort to create and spread the Common Core State Standards across the country with astounding speed. While the idea of common academic K-12 standards came from governors and state education officials around the country, the work to turn it into reality was orchestrated by a tight-knit group of influential people, who circulated among the Gates Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education and non-profit education organizations. - Read More Get to know the Common Core marketing overlords
by Michelle Malkin | Creators Syndicate
Pearson Foundation Fined Millions for Violating Laws
By Diane Ravitch | National Education Policy Center
New York state’s attorney general Eric T. Schneiderman won an agreement from the Pearson Foundation to pay $7.7 million in fines for using its charitable activities to advance its corporation’s profit-making arm. “Around 2010, Pearson began financing an effort through its foundation to develop courses based on the Common Core. The attorney general’s report said Pearson had hoped to use its charity to win endorsements and donations from a “prominent foundation.” That group appears to be the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. “The case shed a light on the competitive world of educational testing and technology, which Pearson has come to dominate. As federal and state leaders work to overhaul struggling schools by raising academic standards, educational companies are rushing to secure lucrative contracts in testing, textbooks and software. Read more Pearson's Profit LobbyBy Aimie Randall | WatchDog Wire
Pearson Education is positioned to reap historic benefits in the corporate and political arena. In May, the PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College or Career) testing consortium announced that Pearson Education won a bid to administer and manage the standardized tests that bear the PARCC name. While there is no dollar value on the contract yet, the potential is unimaginable as PARCC tests may be administered to U.S. school children in 14 states. - Read More Organizations That Have Actively Lobbied Against the Colorado Mom's Bill — SB 14-136
Below includes the identities of corporations and non-profits that have actively lobbied against the Mom's Bill. This bill, would have delayed the implementation of the highly controversial “Common Core” standards in Colorado for one year, giving the State Board of Education as well as school districts time to review and prepare for its intrusive mandates. The Colorado Mom’s Bill would also give school districts a way to opt out of the related testing required by the new state and federal standards.
Dangled Dollar's Prompt Recent Duncan VisitSecretary Duncan's trip to Colorado has been exciting for the state, but it's nice to have a back story. The St. Vrain school district, or, more specifically, Skyline High School and its feeder schools, have received $20.2 million to support a STEM program. $16.6 million of that was from Race to the Top and $3.6 million is from the Invest in Innovation Program. These programs are interesting as they involve corporate participation in the classroom - corporate meaning businesses, not groups. The grant applications promise SEVEN weeks of additional classroom time for these students, and innovative staffing solutions such as bringing in Teach for America. Of course, the money is nice for a district, but our kids get tangled up in the many strings attached.
Just How Much Money Is Represented By Commercial Interests in Education?
Here's a quick summary of what Pearson stands to make in JUST ONE DISTRICT. It is CRUCIAL that parents understand their children are walking around with dollar signs over their heads. Money always leads to exploitation.
"...lawmakers on both sides of the aisle can be persuaded to support an inferior product if there is enough of a financial incentive." Read More Common Core Lobbyist Bill Gates Now Funding NBC News' Education Coverage
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"The only experts who claim that the Common Core standards are of high quality are those on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation payroll." - Jay Green, University of Arkansas Professor
Source DocumentsDon't take our word for it. Please download and review sources from the Gates foundation and Huffington Post.
Gates Foundation
Huffington Post
Gates At NCL Speaking on Common CoreBill Gates explains the "benefits" (to Corporations) of the Common Core State Standards, Common Core Curriculum and the Testing Aligning for the good of the Marketplace.
Gates on ABCs This WeekGeorge Stephanopoulos goes one-on-one with billionaire Bill Gates on Common Core education standards. Read Transcript
How Gates Bought Common coreWho's Involved in Common Core"Common Core isn't actually state led, it's Gates led" - Mercedes Schneider,
Public school teacher, education activist, PhD |