Division I regional track finals
Fenwick graduation 2012
Ponitz graduation 2012
Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2008 > March > 09
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Can you fix education with $2 billion?
Eli Broad and Bill Gates
It appears the short answer is no. But you can make a difference if you invest your money carefully.
The New York Times has been on a run of good education related stories lately. This Sunday, they took a novel approach. As part of a Sunday magazine package on philanthropy, reporter Paul Tough gathered five diverse education experts and presented them with an enviable scenario:
Advise a hypothetical billionaire how to spend $2 billion he wants to contribute toward improving education in the U.S.
The conversation revealed a huge shift in the way education philanthropists give to the cause, and what they expect to see in terms of results. Billionaires like Eli Broad and Bill Gates have changed the game, both by making education a major focus of a huge amount of giving and by taking an entrepreneurial approach the way they spend their foundation money.
The consensus? Well, there were a lot of ideas about how to use the money. But the one everyone seemed to buy into was to identify good leaders, be they with school districts or or charter schools or wherever, and bet on them with real cash.
So let’s take that back here to Dayton. Who are the education leaders we would bet on? Superintendent Percy Mack? What could he do with a meaningful influx of real cash? How about Ann Higdon, the innovative founder of the ISUS charter schools for dropouts? She’s already demonstrated the ability to succeed with money from philanthropic sources. Or maybe Mike McCormick, superintendent of the generally well-respected Richard Allen charter schools?
Let’s extend this scenario to Dayton. You are advising the big money giver. Where do you advise him to place his big bets?
UPDATE: This Week in Education’s Alexander Russo was pretty unimpressed by the discussion in the Times Magazine. His comments are worth checking out.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: Urban School Issues
