How Have Large Donations Affected Education Policy In New York City?

theodp writes: According to Chalkbeat, the expansion of charter schools, the movement to break New York City's large schools into smaller ones, and the push to teach computer science have something in common: the influence of philanthropy. Though contributions from big donors amount to only a fraction of New York City's education spending, they still have a real impact on public school policy, said Jeffrey Henig, the co-author of The New Education Philanthropy: Politics, Policy and Reform, which details how powerful individuals and organizations increasingly use donations to advance policies they support. Increasingly, Henig adds, some of those donors are paying more attention to advocacy, creating at least the appearance, if not the reality, of grassroots support.

Comments

"Donations"

[fustakrakich]

If there are any conditions, it's not a "donation", it is a bribe, and it shouldn't be tax deductible.

Re:"Donations"

[sumdumass]

Nah. For instance, I will donate to help cloth the poor or disaster assistance but insist none of that donation goes to high dollar salaries of the people running it. That is not a bribe.

Re:"Donations"

[sims 2]

Well still yet they seem to be obligated to hold up their end of the bargain. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/he...

Re:"Donations"

[ShanghaiBill]

This is not just about altruistism. There is a huge political aspect to these donations. Public employee unions are the biggest donors to the Democratic Party. The also provide thousands of campaign door knockers and phone dialers. When Obama was nominated, more than 20% of the delegates at the convention were members of either the NEA or the AFT. School reform, charter schools, and an upcoming Supreme Court ruling could weaken these unions, which will have a dramatic effect on American politics. I think this is a good thing, because the public employee unions have a corrupting influence, and push the Democratic Party away from their natural role of helping the dispossessed.

Re:"Donations"

[sumdumass]

You mean like Mercury one or your local church?

And yes, Mercury One has a separate drive for administration costs and all donations to aid goes directly to the target of said aid. They actually clearly separate the two when asking for funds or donations or volunteers to help.

Your church, well a lot of them anyways, I do not know about the churches in your area but in mine, a lot of them have free stores that stock necessities like clothing, toiletries, and some dry goods that are freely available to people in need. The majority of them operation the administration side completely from donations within their church services and staff volunteers. If you donate money or goods, they go directly to the store or a wholesaler supplier for stock in the store. Some of the stuff is brand new, some is used, some funds is set aside for special purposes like buying good cloths for someone to go to a job interview or something that requires a little more sharpness then off the shelf hand me downs to something that's a little loose or tight but will work for the costs. You just have to look around and ask them about their structure.

biggest single source of donations

[ooloorie]

The biggest single source of political donations has traditionally been the teachers unions. This has resulted in terrible corruption of the political process and lousy educational outcomes for kids, placing the personal interests of teachers ahead of those of children. The fact that in recent years, supporters for charter schools and private donations have managed to reach similar contributions is a glimmer of hope. But even money aside, teachers' unions still have way too much political power, and charter schools are really not a good solution either.