When the Gates Foundation announced in July that it would give up to $250,000 grants to fifteen states to help them with their Race to the Top applications, it was exercising the right of a private organization to be selective with its funds. But then the neglected 35 cried “unfair.” And the financial floodgates opened. Now all fifty states will get financial help with their RTT proposals. Will the same thing happen when the Department of Education determines RTT winners? And shouldn’t a private foundation be showing how to be selective rather than yielding, government-style, to political pressure?
“After Complaints, Gates Foundation Opens Education Aid Offer to All States,” by Sam Dillon, New York Times, October 28, 2009