Bill And Melina Gates Foundation To Play Bigger Role In American Education

Bill Gates, one of the big players propelling Americas school reform movement is no longer satisfied with simply providing $200 million through his foundation; he has his eyes set on influencing education policy.

Spending hundreds of millions of dollars annually through the Bill and Melina Gates Foundation, the married couple has been assisting elementary and secondary school initiatives for years. But the founder of Microsoft and his wife would like to make more of an impact and have decided to start at the top with government education policy.

The foundations is headed in a new direction, taking bold steps to spend millions in order to influence the way Uncle Sam distributes the $5 billion in grants used to address and often overhaul public schools across the country. And with the support of President Obama himself, the foundation appears poised to get to work.

Obama has persuaded congress to give the foundation access to part of the $700 billion economic stimulus package, giving Gates a shot at trying out some new ideas in order to revive an education system that many believe is crumbling. The foundation and Obama share similar beliefs, targeting them into goals that they believe can improve the state of American schooling drastically. Such beliefs include charter schools operating independently of local school boards and making teacher wages and salaries dependant on student test scores.

Teachers unions throughout the country have questioned Obamas educational beliefs for quite some time. They believe that the success of a student far surpasses scores on standardized tests ad that relying on charter schools is a mistake.

According to the National Education Association, the largest teachers' union in the country, Obama and his administration are confident that charter schools are the answer to Americas schooling issues despite mounting evidence that suggests the contrary.

Though the foundation has the best of intentions, some question if Gates partnering up with the US government is a good idea. If you ask Chester E. Finn, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, partnering with the government may compromise Gates ability to be critical of government practices, as well as his ability to do unpopular yet necessary things with the governments money that might draw controversy. And oddly enough, Finns institution is one of many that have received donations from Gates foundation in the past.

Some also recognize that as a private foundation, Gates and company do not need to disclose spending details lie the government does.

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Learn everything you need to know about education grants at governmentgrants.com.

Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com

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