Bill Gates Has A(nother) Billion-Dollar Plan for K-12 Public Education

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The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is spending more than $1.7 billion over the next five years to pay for new initiatives in public education, with all but 15 percent of it going to traditional public school districts and the rest to charter schools. Most of the new money — about 60 percent — will be used to develop new curriculums and “networks of schools” that work together to identify local problems and solutions, using data to drive “continuous improvement.”

Gates, a believer in using big data to solve problems, repeatedly said foundation grants given to schools as part of this new effort would be driven by data. “Each [school] network will be backed by a team of education experts skilled in continuous improvement, coaching and data collection and analysis,” he said, an emphasis that is bound to worry critics already concerned about the amount of student data already collected and the way it is used for high-stakes decisions.
 
My god that article summed up my thoughts in the very first sentence.

Bill Gates has a(nother) plan for K-12 public education. The others didn’t go so well, but the man, if anything, is persistent.
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I appreciate the effort bill, but our country is still stupid.
 
Why don't they just have China or Japan take over the US school system. From what I have seen, they are serious about education. Unlike the stupid Common Core garbage adopted in the US and a story per week about some teacher sexually assaulting teen students.
 
i never liked the guy really he's FOR abortion but wants to help kids with education which one is it hurt and kill them or educate them?
 
daglesj said:
It's how the powers that be, want it. Imagine a country full of smart folks that could think for themselves and not be afraid to question. The current political and social system would crumble....probably for something better one would hope.
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A tale as old as time! The political groups have people right where they want them now. Most of the morons think with "the feels" and listen to whatever nonsense the talking heads on your choice of 24hr new network tells you to think. They are all trash and not a single one even looks into a story or asks any real questions. They just read the script and collect checks.
 
Remember when everyone hated Bill Gates and Microsoft while everyone fawned over the super-awesome and 'nice' Steve Jobs because Microsoft was winning the war that Apple had effectively lost? Right.

People who base their critical decision making on Feels never impress me. "Steve makes such great products and he gives them to SCHOOLS"...please, Steve was a sociopath perfectionist who loved having a cult of worshiping sycophants pay him to sniff his turds the way R. Kelly likes keeping a harem of girls to piss on. Bill Gates is still just an awkward nerdy lawyer's kid who's giving most of his fortune away and he's doing it with legitimate skill, not wasting it on Americans who should be better suited to pulling themselves up by the bootstraps, he sends his money to places where people still shit in in the middle of the street as a matter of commonality. Hmmm, I wonder if Steve Job's widow is finished building that billion-dollar yacht he was making when he croaked........meanwhile, Bill probably drives an Accord.

When I was younger my dad, who was into financial advising and had some fairly well-known clients, once said to me "the richest people in the world drive Buicks".
 
HeadRusch said:
Remember when everyone hated Bill Gates and Microsoft while everyone fawned over the super-awesome and 'nice' Steve Jobs because Microsoft was winning the war that Apple had effectively lost? Right.

People who base their critical decision making on Feels never impress me. "Steve makes such great products and he gives them to SCHOOLS"...please, Steve was a sociopath perfectionist who loved having a cult of worshiping sycophants pay him to sniff his turds the way R. Kelly likes keeping a harem of girls to piss on. Bill Gates is still just an awkward nerdy lawyer's kid who's giving most of his fortune away and he's doing it with legitimate skill, not wasting it on Americans who should be better suited to pulling themselves up by the bootstraps, he sends his money to places where people still shit in in the middle of the street as a matter of commonality.
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There's still PLENTY of Bill and MS hate around here.
 
Sounds like they are worried about charter schools straying from the official narratives. So bill is offering a carrot to help keep them on track with right-think.
 
Dk975 said:
Why don't they just have China or Japan take over the US school system. From what I have seen, they are serious about education. Unlike the stupid Common Core garbage adopted in the US and a story per week about some teacher sexually assaulting teen students.
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They are serious about education but they're serious about the wrong approach to education. They focus on memorization which kills critical thinking.

Some good TED talks discussing this



 
Dk975 said:
Why don't they just have China or Japan take over the US school system. From what I have seen, they are serious about education. Unlike the stupid Common Core garbage adopted in the US and a story per week about some teacher sexually assaulting teen students.
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Ah, Japan, where they have a high rate of toddler suicides, because if they don't get in the right pre-school, they won't be able to get into a good elementary school and may not even be able to attend high school, let alone college, thus their entire life is ruined. Sure, that's the educational model I want for my kids :rolleyes:

Or we could model ourselves after Germany and many other nations, where you have to take an entrance exam before entering high school. Fail, you go to vocational school, cannot go to college, and will be limited to being a low-skilled worker the rest of your life.

Compared to the rest of the world, our educational system (though far from perfect) isn't nearly the disaster some people want to make it.

- brought to you by a product of public education, grades 8-12.
 
jardows said:
Ah, Japan, where they have a high rate of toddler suicides, because if they don't get in the right pre-school, they won't be able to get into a good elementary school and may not even be able to attend high school, let alone college, thus their entire life is ruined. Sure, that's the educational model I want for my kids :rolleyes:

Or we could model ourselves after Germany and many other nations, where you have to take an entrance exam before entering high school. Fail, you go to vocational school, cannot go to college, and will be limited to being a low-skilled worker the rest of your life.

Compared to the rest of the world, our educational system (though far from perfect) isn't nearly the disaster some people want to make it.

- brought to you by a product of public education, grades 8-12.
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Yes we should kids that are dumb or don't care shouldn't be with the same kids that do want to learn. Also we need more kids going to trade schools as we have a labor shortage. I can't tell you the last time someone we hired to be an HVAC helper was younger then uper 20s or low 30s.
 
tunatime said:
Yes we should kids that are dumb or don't care shouldn't be with the same kids that do want to learn. Also we need more kids going to trade schools as we have a labor shortage. I can't tell you the last time someone we hired to be an HVAC helper was younger then uper 20s or low 30s.
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In those alternate systems, you can't go back to school and better yourself. I have a friend who immigrated from Germany in her early 20's, and did not have the proper education to enter an academic world. While here, she worked at a factory, then in her 30's decided to go to college, earn a Master's degree in education, entered school administration, to ultimately become a local school superintendent. Something that would have never happened in Germany. In those other countries' systems, once a factory worker, always a factory worker, and that normally is decided for you before you are 16 years old.

Did you know if you wanted to be a factory worker or a highly educated worker at 16? Or, as in the case of Japan, by the time you were 6?
 
Dk975 said:
Why don't they just have China or Japan take over the US school system. From what I have seen, they are serious about education. Unlike the stupid Common Core garbage adopted in the US and a story per week about some teacher sexually assaulting teen students.
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If you were to actually travel over there or ever work with these supposed superior educated Chinese students you'd know they have absolutely no critical thinking skills as their education system is 100% designed to get the kids to pass the SAT/ACT/Common core garbage you are talking about it. They'll pass a SAT with flying colors and are generally brilliant test takers - But once thrown real tasks at the graduate level or in the work world crumble fast because there is a difference between /educating/ and what we consider 'education' now in just passing a multiple choice exam. The entire education system is turning to garbage because of this stuff; Just because kids in the US aren't passing these exams as well as students from other countries doesn't mean they can't actually do real work.
 
This man is an expert in making it look like he is spending his money. I think reality is very different. At the very least, this is a tax dodge, and at worst, he is giving money to his business partners/friends, which in return, give him money. How else do you think he keeps getting richer, despite "spending" so much?

He could truly change the world, or at least America with half of his declared fortune. Even if he just educated and housed the homeless.
 
HeadRusch said:
Remember when everyone hated Bill Gates and Microsoft while everyone fawned over the super-awesome and 'nice' Steve Jobs because Microsoft was winning the war that Apple had effectively lost? Right.

People who base their critical decision making on Feels never impress me. "Steve makes such great products and he gives them to SCHOOLS"...please, Steve was a sociopath perfectionist who loved having a cult of worshiping sycophants pay him to sniff his turds the way R. Kelly likes keeping a harem of girls to piss on. Bill Gates is still just an awkward nerdy lawyer's kid who's giving most of his fortune away and he's doing it with legitimate skill, not wasting it on Americans who should be better suited to pulling themselves up by the bootstraps, he sends his money to places where people still shit in in the middle of the street as a matter of commonality. Hmmm, I wonder if Steve Job's widow is finished building that billion-dollar yacht he was making when he croaked........meanwhile, Bill probably drives an Accord.

When I was younger my dad, who was into financial advising and had some fairly well-known clients, once said to me "the richest people in the world drive Buicks".
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Bill is actually a porsche man
 
Mchart said:
If you were to actually travel over there or ever work with these supposed superior educated Chinese students you'd know they have absolutely no critical thinking skills as their education system is 100% designed to get the kids to pass the SAT/ACT/Common core garbage you are talking about it. They'll pass a SAT with flying colors and are generally brilliant test takers - But once thrown real tasks at the graduate level or in the work world crumble fast because there is a difference between /educating/ and what we consider 'education' now in just passing a multiple choice exam. The entire education system is turning to garbage because of this stuff; Just because kids in the US aren't passing these exams as well as students from other countries doesn't mean they can't actually do real work.
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Have you seen how dumb the avg American kid is? Our hs kids have no critical thinking skills and 50% of them want to be somekind artist
 
Mchart said:
If you were to actually travel over there or ever work with these supposed superior educated Chinese students you'd know they have absolutely no critical thinking skills as their education system is 100% designed to get the kids to pass the SAT/ACT/Common core garbage you are talking about it. They'll pass a SAT with flying colors and are generally brilliant test takers - But once thrown real tasks at the graduate level or in the work world crumble fast because there is a difference between /educating/ and what we consider 'education' now in just passing a multiple choice exam. The entire education system is turning to garbage because of this stuff; Just because kids in the US aren't passing these exams as well as students from other countries doesn't mean they can't actually do real work.
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Have you been in any US schools in the past 25 years? I graduated in 2002 and almost all test were multiple choice. We listen to books on tape and then watch the movie in English class. It is even worse now with all the common core bull shit. So yeah back when I was in school they were teaching you how to take tests also. They even went as far as how to eliminate the wrong answers with out attempting to solve the problem first.
 
tunatime said:
Have you seen how dumb the avg American kid is? Our hs kids have no critical thinking skills and 50% of them want to be somekind artist
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This is partly due to the fact we have been attempting to copy other nation's (China, Korea, Japan especially) education models. Of course, all our students take tests, while in those countries, only the top students actually attend High School and take tests. That is why USA test scores are lower, but when it comes to the elite academic competitions, our students are quite competitive.
 
Mchart said:
If you were to actually travel over there or ever work with these supposed superior educated Chinese students you'd know they have absolutely no critical thinking skills as their education system is 100% designed to get the kids to pass the SAT/ACT/Common core garbage you are talking about it.
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More importantly, cheating and corruption are rampant to the point where it's a large part of the "skill" base in education. I tutor a lot of kids from all over the country (U.S. that is) and whenever I get Chinese kids (usually from CA) they basically cheat or bribe their way through any class that poses difficulty (the English language being a common barrier). Don't get me wrong, I think the U.S. education system needs an overhaul (Common Core is ridiculous and the Dept. of Education has largely been a failure, and on top of that the system of higher education is mostly a liberal disaster of seniority and cronyism). I just think it's unfair that people try to apply one idea universally. Things that make sense in Europe don't necessarily make sense here, for example. And as for Japan - same deal, their culture is very different from ours (especially since most Asian societies are largely homogenized in comparison to the West/U.S.), the expectation that "one size fits all" is ridiculous when the U.S. had the best educational system in the world in the 19th century (source: The Oxford History of the United States) largely due to Protestant sponsorship. A proper system is more than the sum of its parts.
 
Stimpy88 said:
This man is an expert in making it look like he is spending his money. I think reality is very different. At the very least, this is a tax dodge, and at worst, he is giving money to his business partners/friends, which in return, give him money. How else do you think he keeps getting richer, despite "spending" so much?

He could truly change the world, or at least America with half of his declared fortune. Even if he just educated and housed the homeless.
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You clearly don't know much about Melinda & Gates Foundation and how much impact they have brought into rural area / 3rd world countries.
 
Anybody read the actual common core regulation or law? I haven't but i also know pretty much all you read is BS comments opinions and political agendas, to the extreme i mean.
 
I'd prefer if he just wrote checks to the parents of the kids and let them choose the education path they feel is most appropriate for their children. But, it's his money. (I =did= give him some of it. ;) )
 
Uvaman2 said:
Anybody read the actual common core regulation or law? I haven't but i also know pretty much all you read is BS comments opinions and political agendas, to the extreme i mean.
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No, but I've talked to teachers about it. It's pretty strict, and they have to teach to pass exams for funding. So, their only focus is to teach the kids to pass those exams, nothing more. And they have a hard time doing that at times (I live in an odd place where there is a huge language barrier that holds people back with both languages).

I'm all for learning the basics. But, some children will be left behind. But, some will excel a lot more than they are with common core. I have the same issue with a lot of other things. You can't make things equal by bringing the top performing people down to the least performing people. Some people may suck at math, but be absolutely amazing at something else.

I hated Bill Gates at Microsoft. I think he's doing good things for the world after leaving and I respect the guy. I don't agree with a lot of his beliefs, but he's still doing good things.
 
c3k said:
I'd prefer if he just wrote checks to the parents of the kids and let them choose the education path they feel is most appropriate for their children. But, it's his money. (I =did= give him some of it. ;) )
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Yeah that will work. Just like how people spend their child support money on their child instead of that new Mercedes or those fancy nails and shit or the people on food stamps sell them at stores for half their value. Giving people free stuff/money is not the answer.
 
vegeta535 said:
Yeah that will work. Just like how people spend their child support money on their child instead of that new Mercedes or those fancy nails and shit or the people on food stamps sell them at stores for half their value. Giving people free stuff/money is not the answer.
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Wot? Are you saying food stamps aren't used for essential foodstuffs?

I'd set the Gates money so it could only be used for education. But directed by the parents, rather than a large organization. Still...it's his to do with as he pleases.
 
fightingfi said:
i never liked the guy really he's FOR abortion but wants to help kids with education which one is it hurt and kill them or educate them?
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Nothing wrong with being pro abortion, depending on the circumstances. Good for him. Our education system is in shambles in this country. As long as he doesn't allocate the money to programs like "Blue Ribbon" or "TAAS" like we have here in Texas.
 
c3k said:
Wot? Are you saying food stamps aren't used for essential foodstuffs?

I'd set the Gates money so it could only be used for education. But directed by the parents, rather than a large organization. Still...it's his to do with as he pleases.
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Yes. I have been approached at super market by people selling their food stamps for as low as 50c on the dollar. I told them low life's to fuck off.
 
Stimpy88 said:
This man is an expert in making it look like he is spending his money. I think reality is very different. At the very least, this is a tax dodge, and at worst, he is giving money to his business partners/friends, which in return, give him money. How else do you think he keeps getting richer, despite "spending" so much?

He could truly change the world, or at least America with half of his declared fortune. Even if he just educated and housed the homeless.
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It's called compound interest and investing..... When you have that kind of money, you live on the interest, not the balance..... I'm guessing he makes more each month in interest than you will earn in your entire life.... That was a perfect example of the lack of critical thinking being brought up in this thread btw...



fightingfi said:
i never liked the guy really he's FOR abortion but wants to help kids with education which one is it hurt and kill them or educate them?
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YEA!! He should be against abortion and force people to raise kids they can't afford.... I think most people agree we aren't spending enough government money on social programs...... Typical republican thinking that want to ban abortions, but not help the poor with healthcare..... It's only a life that matters before it's born, right? Makes a ton of sense.....
 
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Well since repubs want to make schools private/charter, I guess this will help. School system is so corrupt. Keep schools public. Stop letting Koch brothers brainwash you.
 
Stimpy88 said:
This man is an expert in making it look like he is spending his money. I think reality is very different. At the very least, this is a tax dodge, and at worst, he is giving money to his business partners/friends, which in return, give him money. How else do you think he keeps getting richer, despite "spending" so much?

He could truly change the world, or at least America with half of his declared fortune. Even if he just educated and housed the homeless.
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Probably all the prisons he's invested in and the railroad he owns or co-owns.
 
fightingfi said:
i never liked the guy really he's FOR abortion but wants to help kids with education which one is it hurt and kill them or educate them?
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You do know that Abortion is only a 'issue' in the USA and Ireland? The rest of the developed world just gets on with it. It isn't a political issue at all.
 
fightingfi said:
i never liked the guy really he's FOR abortion but wants to help kids with education which one is it hurt and kill them or educate them?
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It is almost like he is capable of critical and logical thought and isn't bound by making emotional knee jerk decisions...Imagine that.
 
shansoft said:
You clearly don't know much about Melinda & Gates Foundation and how much impact they have brought into rural area / 3rd world countries.
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Until 3rd world countries stop breeding like rabbits, the only thing they are doing is starting a future population crisis. As great as making a global inner-city ghetto sounds with a huge portion of the population entirely dependent on the government (or private mega-corp) to survive sounds to them, I personally think its bad.
 
lilbabycat said:
Until 3rd world countries stop breeding like rabbits, the only thing they are doing is starting a future population crisis. As great as making a global inner-city ghetto sounds with a huge portion of the population entirely dependent on the government (or private mega-corp) to survive sounds to them, I personally think its bad.
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Maybe also have a word with the enormo globo Corporations and the Western govts in collusion with them that suck trillions of dollars out of the 3rd world and fund countless civil wars there, keeping them poor so they can keep exploiting them.

You can get away with murder when everything is in chaos.
 
The problem isn't money. For all that progressives decry love of money, they sure do think it will solve all the world's ills.
 
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