Some of the largest philanthropic organizations in the world are funneling millions of dollars into schools to push left-wing education initiatives at the expense of students academics, one parent activist group says.
Parents Defending Education, a grassroots organization helping parents with resources devoted to fighting “indoctrination in the classroom,” investigated where five prominent foundations were awarding grants.
Their study called “Cracked Foundations,” found these organizations gave over $200 million to 70 school districts across the nation from 2017-2021. The parents group said that students in some of these districts were failing at math and reading, yet grants were being awarded to advance initiatives promoting equitable grading, Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and Critical Race Theory instead of academics.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the Wallace Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Windward Fund were the focus of the study, which analyzed the last four years. All five organizations speak of their commitment to fostering “equity” on their websites.
Through 990 tax filings, publicly available documents and FOIA requests, the group found the most dollars went to the Battle Creek Public Schools in Michigan and Denver Public Schools in Colorado. Eight other districts in Florida, Texas, Kentucky, Ohio and California received ranges from over $1 million to $8 million dollars.
Battle Creek public Schools received over $31 million from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation over the course of four years in grants with a stated goal of “transforming” the schools “to address structural bias and segregation,” according to the study.
The Gates Foundation also gave millions to Denver Public Schools’ Foundation, the Baltimore City Public Schools’ Fund for Educational Excellence, the New York City Department of Education’s Fund for Public Schools Inc, and the Tulare County Office of Education “to implement equity-focused programming such as equitable grading,” according to the report.
Bob Hughes, director of K-12 education at the Gates Foundation, stated that the foundation planned to “rebuild” public education by “leading with equity,” the study quoted him as saying.
Besides equitable grading, social and emotional learning was another focus of these foundations’ giving.
In one example, Parents Defending Education criticized $9 million from three of the foundations being given to consultants who specialize in social and emotional learning, such as the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL).
The Gates Foundation describes the learning philosophy as fostering “strong relationships and equitable learning environments attuned to and sustaining of students’ identity and cultural context in order to increase postsecondary success.”
But the parents group said the teaching philosophy has become another way to implement race and gender ideology.
Last month the Nation’s Report Card was released showing math and reading testing scores had dropped significantly in the years schools were shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic for fourth through eighth graders. Reading scores for 9-year-olds dropped to their lowest level in 30 years.
Parents Defending Education President and Founder Nicole Neily said their study shows how school districts continue to ask taxpayers for more money despite low academic standards while pushing progressive political ideas in schools.
“On a regular basis, PDE is asked ‘where do these programs come from,’ so we decided to investigate. Far from being an organic, bottom-up effort, this is very much a concerted strategy driven by progressive foundations. This is merely the tip of the iceberg – but at a time when school districts continue to pass nine-figure bonds asking for money, and families are hit up via GoFundMe campaigns for school supplies (not to mention the billions of dollars that were sent to schools via ESSER funding), American taxpayers deserve to know what’s taking place behind the schoolhouse gates – and how these foundation-driven spending priorities have impacted student achievement,” she said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Some of the foundations mentioned in the study pushed back on the idea that these programs hurt students’ learning.
The Wallace Foundation told Fox News Digital that research and evidence shows SEL can actually improve student academics.
While sharing concerns “for academic achievement, the well-being of all students and the negative impact of the pandemic” the group said “The work we support is designed to benefit students academically.”
“Research suggests that an emphasis on SEL can enhance, rather than detract from, schools’ core mission of promoting academic achievement and attainment. And there is strong evidence linking improved training and support for principals to benefits for all students in reading and math,” they wrote in response to the criticism.
“Our work in social and emotional learning with districts aims to help them use data and evidence in their own approaches to promoting student success, based on their own definition of equity,” the foundation added.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also defended their grants as helping students achieve “their full potential without race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status serving as predictors of educational attainment and economic mobility and security.”
“We are committed to working with schools and districts to improve outcomes for all students, especially Black and Latino students and students from low-income backgrounds,” the foundation said in an email to Fox News Digital.
They went on to share concerns over the Nation’s Report Card as only “reinforcing the urgency” of their work.
“Over the next 10 years, our K-12 strategy will focus on working with partners to improve student math outcomes by increasing motivation, engagement, and persistence in the math classroom, while supporting teachers to deliver high-quality instructional materials that will engage students and make math more relevant to their everyday lives. The most recent NAEP data showing a sharp decline in math achievement for nearly all subgroups only reinforces the urgency of our work. The pandemic has exacerbated existing academic gaps and put millions of students off-track. We believe that by working with educators, schools, districts, and local partners, together we can improve student outcomes,” they wrote.
The Windward Fund also contested the study’s claim that a COVID-19 fund was used for these programs.
“In 2020, Windward Fund’s fiscally sponsored project Student Emergency Food Access Fund was established to support school districts in continuing to feed children during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The contributions to school nutrition programs helped feed children and their families suffering from food insecurity due to school closures. None of the funding we provided was used for curriculum programs,” a spokesperson for the foundation told Fox News Digital.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
* Article from: Fox News
