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Is Google's Non-Tax Based Public School Funding Cause For Celebration?

Posted by timothy on from the more-the-merrier dept.

theodp (442580) writes "Google's "flash-funding" of teachers' projects via DonorsChoose continues to draw kudos from grateful mayors of the nation's largest cities. The latest comes from Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto (fresh from a Google-paid stay at the Google Zeitgeist resort), who joined Google officials at Taylor Allderdice HS, where Google announced it was 'flash funding' all Pittsburgh area teachers' crowd-funding campaigns on DonorsChoose.org. DonorsChoose reports that Google spent $64,657 to fund projects for 10,924 Pittsburgh kids. While the not-quite-$6-a-student is nice, it does pale by comparison to the $56,742 Google is ponying up to send one L.A. teacher's 34 students to London and Paris and the $35,858 it's spending to take another L.A. teacher's 52 kids to NYC, Gettysburg, and DC. So, is Google's non-tax based public school funding — which includes gender-based funding as well as "begfunding" — cause for celebration?"

6 of 88 comments (clear)

  1. Non Tax Based?!? by Bob9113 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So, is Google's non-tax based public school funding

    They pay billions in profits to an empty office in the Carribbean so they don't have to pay taxes, and give a small portion of that money back through school funding, and take that as a tax deduction.

    In the process, they get enormous influence over the educational agenda. It is largely in a direction Slashdotters can agree with, but imagine it was a church doing this.

    Like Al Capone giving some of his money to the Chicago slums, it may be better than if they weren't doing it, but it hardly gets Google out of the crooked, lobbying megacorp set.

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    1. Re:Non Tax Based?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Charity by it's very definition is undemocratic. Ironically made obvious by the name of this very charity "Donors Choose".

      You could very well make the argument that taxes for social programs are just a different spin on the same beast... i.e. "bureaucrats choose", but at least there is an attempt being made there to make it a democratic system.

      Regardless though, taxes are high on the middles class, low on the wealthy, and income disparity is growing. Thus the reality is that both rich people and bureaucrats are the only ones doing any choosing.

      We need to stop pretending the market will solve everything with perfect self interest. We need to stop pretending that democracy can overcome corruption. It's time for new solutions, smart, simple regulation. The removal of money from politics. A limit on verbose laws and loopholes. These things only exist because we let them.

  2. Re:gender-based funding by Bengie · · Score: 1, Interesting

    The female gender as a whole is getting preferential treatment in all schooling up to at least college. More funding, more attention, more positive support, anti-male pro-female teaching strategies. Boys get punished for being boys, which is starting to create emotional and personality issues in boys.

    See how these girls are sitting around talking about their feelings like good little children? Those boys are making fake guns with their hands and playing cops and robbers. Those little terrorists will now be arrested by a police officer, interrogated, then notify the parents after the child is emotionally scared for life, and not allowed to come back to school.

  3. Non Tax Based?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yeah, I'd rather that Google paid the taxes that it owes to the US government. That would end up putting more money into the schools than $40K here and $60K there for one-off trips.

  4. This is a bad thing by davydagger · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So basicly good has financial control over public education. Even without making demands, it is now understood that google is a player than you pander to for funding. So Administrators will adjust coursework, perhaps disciplinary actions, etc... not only to cater to what google wants done, but perhaps might even start censoring negtive opinions about google in the classroom.

    Then, it becomes very possible that google can use financial incentives, penalties, and other more "active" measures to ensure compliance with their goals.

    Many of google's goals in the short term seem noble, and I am thankful for this, but its a really bad dangerous trend towards privitization that can take a really nasty turn down the road if it ever takes hold. It also sets precident and opens the door for other companies to do the same.

    What we are going to have in 25 years, is a return to feudalism, where various companies control all matters of public life in various diffrent spaces, and their users will be made to fight against eachother for the sake of the company.

    We see this beginning with Apple vs Google vs Microsoft. They have entire continuums of space where you are expected to use the entire range of company products, and socially identify with the company, and your fellow users.

  5. Democratic regression. by manu0601 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    First they fight like hell to dodge taxes, then they spend money in public goods in place of taxpayer money.

    The difference is that taxpayer money is spent under democratic control (or at least it should be, your mileage may vary depending on how much your political system is kinked). And Google will probably spend depending on its own interest instead of on the general interest.