by Henry W. Burke
The Washington Post published the following article on 5.12.13 by Valerie Strauss about the Gates Foundation Grants – “Gates Gives $150 Million in Grants for Common Core Standards” —
Excerpts from this article:
For an initiative billed as being publicly driven, the Common Core States Initiative has benefited enormously from the generosity of the private philanthropy of Bill and Melinda Gates. How much? About $150 million worth.
Take a look at this list of grants, obtained from their foundation’s Web site. Note not only the amounts but the wide range of organizations receiving money. Universities. Unions. State education departments. Nonprofits. Think tanks. The grants were given for a range of reasons, including developing materials aligned to the standards and building support for the standards.
You can see how invested the Gates Foundation is in the success of the Common Core. What kind of Core support do these grants buy from the organizations that receive them?
[The Washington Post article includes a detailed listing of the Gates Foundation grants directed to the Common Core.]
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In Donna Garner’s 5.13.13 article on this subject, she wisely stated: As you read through these grants that Bill Gates gave to “Universities. Unions. State education departments. Nonprofits. Think tanks,” remember which corporation stands to gain the most financially if Common Core Standards (CCS) are implemented throughout the United States – Microsoft Corporation.
In other words, a corporation that stands to gain billions from CCS is owned by the private philanthropist who has been driving education policy. This is called “a direct conflict of interest” by a vendor who is working alongside the Obama administration to create education policy to federalize standards, curriculum, assessments, teacher evaluations, and a national database of intrusive personal information.
The end result would be billions for Microsoft and the indoctrination of our nation’s school children into Obama’s social justice agenda.
As someone who has followed the grim progression of Common Core Standards which is the Obama administration’s takeover of the public schools by the federal government, I thought it would be interesting to provide a breakdown of the roughly $150 million ($146.6 million) in grants for the Common Core Standards. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Gates Foundation) is clearly the major sponsor of the Common Core Standards Initiative (CCSI).
The largest category by far is “Think Tanks,” which garnered about $67 million or 46 % of the $147 million total. State Departments of Education received $22 million or 15 % of the total. The other categories obtained 3 – 12 % of the total.
Summary of Gates Foundation Grants
(All Amounts in Millions of Dollars)
| Category |
Grant Amount ($ Millions) |
Percentage of Total |
| Think Tanks | 66.758 | 46 % |
| State Departments of Education | 22.288 | 15 % |
| National Associations | 17.629 | 12 % |
| Universities | 12.293 | 8 % |
| Common Core “Project Leaders” | 11.500 | 8 % |
| Institutes | 11.193 | 8 % |
| Local School Districts | 4.946 | 3 % |
| Total | 146.607 | 100 % |
The lion’s share of the Gates Foundation Common Core grants were directed to Think Tanks. The Gates Foundation spent major dollars on Think Tank organizations that are advocating CCS and developing Common Core materials. As a group, Think Tanks obtained about $67 million (46 % of the Gates Common Core $146.6 million total). Clearly, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is utilizing Think Tanks to promote the Common Core agenda.
Because the Think Tanks played a huge role in shaping education policy, it should not surprise us that they received much of the Gates Foundation funding. By driving education policy, the Gates Foundation will control what happens in the local classrooms.
Grants to Think Tanks
| Organization | Year |
Grant Amount ($ Millions) |
| WestEd | 2013 | 0.030 |
| LearnZillion, Inc. | 2013 | 0.966 |
| National Paideia Center, Inc. | 2013 | 0.660 |
| The Achievement Network | 2012 | 3.002 |
| BetterLesson, Inc. | 2012 | 3.527 |
| JUMP Math | 2012 | 0.699 |
| Center for Curriculum Redesign, Inc. | 2012 | 0.198 |
| State Education Technology | 2012 | 0.500 |
| Student Achievement Partners, Inc. | 2012 | 4.043 |
| The College-Ready Promise | 2011 | 0.300 |
| Scholastic, Inc. | 2011 | 4.464 |
| New Venture Fund | 2011 | 0.378 |
| Learning Forward | 2011 | 1.000 |
| Americas Promise-Alliance for Youth | 2011 | 0.500 |
| Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Inc. | 2011 | 4.619 |
| Khan Academy, Inc. | 2010 | 1.465 |
| Khan Academy, Inc. | 2011 | 4.079 |
| National Writing Project | 2011 | 3.096 |
| Creative Commons Corp. | 2011 | 0.813 |
| Reasoning Mind, Inc. | 2011 | 0.743 |
| MetaMetrics, Inc. | 2010 | 3.468 |
| New Visions for Public Schools, Inc. | 2010 | 8.150 |
| Center for Teaching Quality, Inc. | 2010 | 0.396 |
| Alliance for Excellent Education, Inc. | 2009 | 0.551 |
| Alliance for Excellent Education, Inc. | 2010 | 3.200 |
| Cristo Rey Network | 2010 | 0.556 |
| Research for Action, Inc. | 2010 | 1.309 |
| Common Core, Inc. | 2009 | 0.551 |
| Colorado Legacy Foundation | 2011 | 9.707 |
| Colorado Legacy Foundation | 2012 | 1.748 |
| The Education Trust | 2009 | 2.040 |
| Subtotal — Think Tanks | 66.758 |
The Gates Foundation issued about $22 million in grants to the State Departments of Education. Gates singled out the Kentucky DOE for $12.028 million (54 % of the State DOE total). The Louisiana DOE received around $7 million (33 % of the State DOE total).
Grants to State Departments of Education
| Organization | Year |
Grant Amount ($ Millions) |
| Delaware | 2013 | 0.400 |
| Georgia | 2010 | 1.981 |
| Kentucky | 2010 | 1.000 |
| Kentucky | 2011 | 9.125 |
| Kentucky | 2012 | 1.903 |
| Louisiana | 2011 | 7.352 |
| Pennsylvania | 2010 | 0.527 |
| Subtotal — State DOEs | 22.288 |
An assortment of National Associations obtained mostly small grants from the Gates Foundation. Together, they received $17.6 million (12 % of the total). The two major teachers’ unions (NEA and AFT) grabbed 31 % of the National Association total.
Grants to National Associations
| Organization | Year |
Grant Amount ($ Millions) |
| National Education Assoc. Found. (NEA) | 2012 | 0.100 |
| American Federation of Teachers (AFT) | 2011 | 1.000 |
| American Federation of Teachers (AFT) | 2012 | 4.400 |
| National Indian Education Assoc. | 2011 | 0.500 |
| Office of Supt. of Public Instr. (Tribal) | 2011 | 0.075 |
| Council of State Governments | 2010 | 0.400 |
| Council of State Governments | 2011 | 0.370 |
| National Association of SBOEs | 2009 | 0.451 |
| National Association of SBOEs | 2011 | 1.078 |
| Council of Great City Schools | 2010 | 0.100 |
| Council of Great City Schools | 2011 | 4.911 |
| Education Commission of the States | 2010 | 0.799 |
| Military Child Education Coalition | 2009 | 0.270 |
| Military Child Education Coalition | 2011 | 0.150 |
| Assoc. for Supervision and Curr. Develop. | 2011 | 3.025 |
| Subtotal — National Associations | 17.629 |
Seven universities obtained grants totaling $12 million from the Gates Foundation. The largest recipient was the University of Arizona at $3.4 million.
Grants to Universities
| Organization | Year |
Grant Amount ($ Millions) |
| University of Kentucky | 2013 | 1.000 |
| University of Arizona | 2012 | 3.417 |
| University of Michigan | 2012 | 2.000 |
| Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT) | 2011 | 2.889 |
| University of State of New York | 2010 | 0.893 |
| University of State of New York | 2011 | 0.600 |
| Purdue University | 2010 | 1.454 |
| New York University | 2010 | 0.040 |
| Subtotal — Universities | 12.293 |
The Common Core Standards Initiative has been led by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association. Not surprisingly, the Gates Foundation provided $11.5 million in funding to these organizations.
Grants to Common Core “Project Leaders”
| Organization | Year |
Grant Amount ($ Millions) |
| Council of Chief State School Officers | 2011 | 9.389 |
| Council of Chief State School Officers | 2012 | 0.475 |
| National Governors Association | 2011 | 1.598 |
| National Governors Association | 2012 | 0.038 |
| Subtotal — CCS “Project Leaders” | 11.500 |
Gates gave grants to four Institutes, with the largest amount ($5.5 million) going to the James B. Hunt Institute; $3.6 million went to the Aspen Institute. Common Core supporter Thomas B. Fordham Institute received almost $1 million.
Grants to Institutes
| Organization | Year |
Grant Amount ($ Millions) |
| The Aspen Institute | 2013 | 3.616 |
| American Enterprise Institute | 2012 | 1.069 |
| James B. Hunt Institute | 2009 | 5.549 |
| Thomas B. Fordham Institute | 2009 | 0.959 |
| Subtotal — Institutes | 11.193 |
The Gates Foundation sent about $5 million in funds to local school districts and local/state organizations.
Grants to Local School Districts
| Organization | Year |
Grant Amount ($ Millions) |
| Albuquerque Public Schools (NM) | 2010 | 0.500 |
| School District of Philadelphia (PA) | 2010 | 0.500 |
| Cleveland Metro School District (OH) | 2010 | 0.498 |
| Forsyth County Schools (GA) | 2010 | 0.151 |
| Fund for Public Schools (NY) | 2012 | 1.816 |
| Baton Rouge Area Foundation (LA) | 2012 | 0.500 |
| Nellie Mae Educ. Fdn. (New England) | 2011 | 0.350 |
| Pennsylvania Business Roundtable (PA) | 2012 | 0.257 |
| Hillsborough County Council (FL) | 2011 | 0.025 |
| Massachusetts Business Alliance (MA) | 2010 | 0.151 |
| Pritchard Committee for Acad. Exc. (KY) | 2011 | 0.198 |
| Subtotal — Local School Districts | 4.946 |
CONCLUSION
What did $150 million in grants to the Common Core do for Bill Gates? For one thing, these grants bought a great deal of control over education policy in this country. This means that a man who owns a private corporation is directing public policy that will control what is taught to millions of students in their local classrooms.
Gates believes in the ideology enshrined in Common Core, and he knows money talks. With many organizations clamoring for Bill Gates’ grant funds, they are more than willing to promote whatever he wants; and he likes the Common Core agenda.
The Common Core Standards will require huge commitments to technology. According to the Pioneer Institute, the 46 CCS states will need to spend $6.9 billion for Technology to implement CCS. Of course, not all of that money will be for computer hardware and software, but the computer portion will be substantial.
As the co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, William “Bill” Gates has strong ties to the corporation. He is the former CEO and is its current Chairman. Bill Gates is the largest individual shareholder of Microsoft, with 6.4 % of the common shares. Under the Common Core computer demands, Microsoft stands to gain immensely.
It seems obvious that Bill Gates is involved in a classic conflict of interest situation. Through the Gates Foundation, Bill Gates is actively supporting and promoting the Common Core. Microsoft will greatly benefit from the huge increase in technology spending required by the Common Core. Do we need to say more?
Henry W. Burke
E-mail: hwburke@cox.net
“Common Core Standards with Henry W. Burke on Dr. Laurie Roth Show” – gives state-specific costs for implementation of Common Core Standards — audio clip – listen to interview —