Gates Donates $30 Million to Make Education a Campaign Issue

An article about Ed in '08, which is funded by the Gates and Broad Foundations.  I think Ed in '08 nicely complements what we're doing with Dems for Ed Reform.  Let's be clear: the opponents of genuine education reform are totally partisan and political, so reformers need to be as well.

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Gates Donates $30 Million to Make Education a Campaign Issue

By Matthew Keenan and William McQuillen

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=axlS9ALgtlUg

Bill Gates is spending $30 million on the U.S. presidential campaign for a cause, not a candidate. The world's richest man plans to make education the No. 1 domestic priority with voters.

The 52-year-old Microsoft Corp. chairman has poured $3.4 billion into school improvements and scholarships since 2000 through his Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, according to the foundation's records. Now the charity says it is providing half the money for Strong American Schools, a bipartisan group with a $60 million effort called ``Ed in '08.''

The Washington-based organization, led by former Democratic Governor Roy Romer of Colorado, wants the next president to rally support for learning standards, increased pay and training for teachers, and longer class days and school years. It says those ideas would improve access to high-quality education, boost economic vitality and reduce the number of U.S. high school dropouts from 1.2 million a year.

Ed in '08 has been ``a strong presence out there in the field in the key primary states, getting the grassroots going, getting online going, getting volunteers going,'' said Jonathan Prince, deputy campaign manager for Democrat John Edwards, whose policy aides have conferred with Strong American Schools officials. ``They've taken a very smart approach.''

The Gates-backed effort is nonpartisan by design, said Marc Lampkin, 43, the executive director of Strong American Schools and a deputy campaign director for Bush in 2000. Gates and Romer weren't available for comment. Lampkin said the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation in Los Angeles, a frequent Gates partner on education projects, is providing the other $30 million for the Strong American Schools' effort.