Bonum Certa Men Certa

“Alliance for Education [Used] to Fabricate the Astroturf “Our Schools Coalition” [For] Reforms That the Gates-puppet Alliance is Pushing”

Gates pyramid



Summary: Bill Gates' lobbying in schools is taken up a notch, with more PR stunts, more AstroTurfing, and gains to be made also in Microsoft-based employment (libraries too)

YESTERDAY we received some encouraging feedback from the Seattle Education 2010 blog, which is run by parents of students who are concerned about schools falling into the hands of Gates' private business, which gets advertised as a "charity" or "philanthropy". There is this new blog post which points to a recent appearance in Democracy Now (turning schools into businesses, under the guise of "reform").



“Decisions ought to be made by informed individuals with expertise in their field, not Napoleonistic men to whom the education system is something to be exploited at taxpayers' expense.”A forum with Diane Ravitch, one of the notable critics [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] of the Gates Foundation's interference in education (with endorsement from the government), is coming to speak very soon based on the Seattle Education 2010 blog.

There is this new article, "The Small Schools Myth", which is saying that Gates does more harm than good to education. He 'donates' whilst actually wasting public money: [via]

Did Bill Gates waste a billion dollars because he failed to understand the formula for the standard deviation of the mean? Howard Wainer makes the case in the entertaining Picturing the Uncertain World (first chapter with the Gates story free here). The Gates Foundation certainly spent a lot of money, along with many others, pushing for smaller schools and a lot of the push came because people jumped to the wrong conclusion when they discovered that the smallest schools were consistently among the best performing schools.


Decisions ought to be made by informed individuals with expertise in their field, not Napoleonistic men to whom the education system is something to be exploited at taxpayers' expense. Seattle Education 2010 has this message to teachers -- a message expressed earlier this month:

The Elder himself, Bill Gates, carries a supply of Jay’s KIPP book to hand out to anyone interested in the Oligarchs’ choice of a final solution to educating the poor and the brown of urban America.


And more from the same blog:

Will Mr. Gray talk with the voters to see what kind of public school the public wants, rather than reporting to the Broad Foundation and the Gates Foundation and the Walton Foundation? Parents and teachers don’t want schools to prepare mind-scrubbed test-takers and obsequious drones for the corporate state.


Watch Gates passing some money to Broad to promote its agenda from seemingly "independent" directions:

Broad Residency Receives $3.6 million Grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to Help Execute Teacher Effectiveness Initiatives


It is not just the Gates-funded Broad which pushes Gates' agenda like a lobbying arm. There is a lot more than that. "It was paid for and used by the Alliance for Education to fabricate the Astroturf “Our Schools Coalition” in order to put pressure on the teachers union to accept reforms that the Gates-puppet Alliance is pushing," alerts Seattle Education 2010:

It was paid for and used by the Alliance for Education to fabricate the Astroturf “Our Schools Coalition” in order to put pressure on the teachers union to accept reforms that the Gates-puppet Alliance is pushing.

They apparently felt the need to try to trick teachers into caving into their demands at the bargaining table by creating the illusion of grassroots support for a discredited ed reform agenda that no parents or teachers asked for.

A big clue that this survey was a nonorganic, outside agenda being grafted onto Seattle is the survey’s out-of-the blue final suggestion of bringing “Teach for America” recruits to Seattle’s schools. (That’s “Teach for America, Inc.” by the way, a multimillion dollar enterprise with ties to the Broad Foundation and support from the Gates Foundation.)


Gates et al. are still gently bribing officials to implement their agenda:

Put on your dunce cap Arne Duncan and go sit in the corner! And while you’re at it, read a history book or two.

[...]

For Arne Duncan to even think that he could possibly consider himself on that level leads me to believe that he is either not in touch with this reality or his ego has been so overblown by the money and prestige afforded him by Broad and Gates that he truly has begun to believe that he is on the same level of a Rosa Parks or others equal to her stature.


Looking at the Memphis example, watch this little update:

I would strongly suggest that the city take all its financial resources (the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant, etc.) and put it where it will have a positive outcome.


Here is money with strings attached to it

The centerpiece of discussion was MCS's $90 million blueprint (funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) to improve how teachers are hired, promoted and paid.


We wrote about what Gates was doing to Memphis schools in previous posts such as:



Characteristically, Gates cannot force people to change all on his own. He will be using some more politicians and celebrities as usual, in order to push his agenda (we gave many such examples of fake endorsements before). Gates' latest front man seems to be talented singer John Legend, which AFP says "tout[s] education reform" (that would be 'reform' the Gates way):

Bill Gates, John Legend tout education reform



[...]

The pair joined David Guggenheim ("An Inconvenient Truth") for the international premiere at the Toronto film festival of his latest documentary "Waiting for Superman," which follows five students as they try to navigate a broken US public school system.


Without knowing about it, John Legend has been duped. At Gates' behest, Legend is working against the interests of parents, teachers, and pupils, indoctrinating them into thinking the opposite of reality. It's all just an exercise in PR. "Harvard Dropout Gates Pitches ‘Superman’ Film on Awful Schools," says Bloomberg and there is more story-telling about this shameless publicity stunt from Gates.

“At Gates' behest, Legend is working against the interests of parents, teachers, and pupils, indoctrinating them into thinking the opposite of reality.”There was more lobbying from Gates at this Toronto film festival and we wrote about this earlier in the week. In general, Gates has been having some film PR in schools recently, with an example at UCLA and accompanying advertisements (even making self-congratulatory PR (press release) out of it).

Microsoft does something similar in the London Film Festival, for self gain (Vista 7 advertising). To quote the news, "Microsoft has agreed a deal with the British Film Institute (BFI) for Windows 7 to become the main sponsor of the 54th London Film Festival."

It's all about advertising and agenda-pushing.

Gates' appearance in Toronto was not just about pushing his agenda in US schools. He is harming Canada too now (expansion of the same type of agenda), having recently formed some self-serving relationship with Harper. There is an article that seems like some kind of advertisement in the New York Times ("Bill Gates Stirs Up the Education Debate in Toronto") and The Star (Canada) helps this convicted monopolist (not just lobbyist) by printing the article "Bill Gates Stirs Up the Education Debate in Toronto" (it's propaganda regarding public policy).

Even the United Kingdom and Ireland cannot escape the influence of this dangerous man. The Belfast Telegraph says that the Employment Minister is going to meet Gates (it's like he is part of government function now).

Empey set to meet Microsoft founder



A meeting with Bill Gates will be on the schedule as the Employment Minister visits New York, it has emerged.

The billionaire Microsoft founder will welcome Sir Reg Empey this week as the minister embarks on a US trip highlighting the local workforce.


Why is it that companies like Microsoft are setting the agenda in areas where they do not belong? It's an intrusion. One reason for Microsoft's co-founder to meet an employment minister is to ensure that employment -- just like education -- continues to depend on Microsoft products.

“[I]nstead of teaching pupils how to use computers as a generic tool to solve their particular problems, it becomes instead a dull exercise in committing to memory various ritual Microsoft sequences to achieve one specific task.”
      --Glyn Moody
Watch Chicago lobbying this month, starting with Microsoft indoctrination in the city. It's one of those cases where people are taught to be servants of Microsoft and in turn demand Microsoft products from employers. This latter example says: "Jason got the highest score in the country on the Microsoft Office Specialist Excel 2003 Exam in February. He went on to compete in the 2010 Worldwide Competition on Microsoft Office in August and ranked fifth in the world."

To quote this week's article from Glyn Moody, "I know as a parent from years of interaction with the school system at various levels that what passes for computer teaching is in fact little more than rote learning of where the Open command is on the menu in Word and Excel. That is, instead of teaching pupils how to use computers as a generic tool to solve their particular problems, it becomes instead a dull exercise in committing to memory various ritual Microsoft sequences to achieve one specific task." To make matters worse, by teaching young people to only use Microsoft (when they grow up) they are in turn endangering health, for example, with new Exchange flaws that are being reported and cause no alarm to those who irresponsible make healthcare dependent on Microsoft.

Going back to the Chicago example, watch what Gates is doing this month. He is lobbying to control Chicago schools too:

Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and billionaire global icon, visited the 5th floor of Chicago City Hall on Friday, perhaps signaling the future plans of retiring Mayor Richard Daley, a source close to City Hall confirmed.

[...]

Gates' Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation raises and donates millions of dollars toward urban education systems, focused on making sure students are college-ready. Daley has long focused on improving Chicago's public school system. Whether a partnership develops as a result of Gates' visit Friday remains to be seen.


As money is being pushed into more schools (subscribers only) for control over decision-making, there are reasons to suspect that Gates will continue to corrupt them for Microsoft's benefit and do so mostly at taxpayers' expense (that's what makes schools so appealing to him, it's indoctrination parents pay for).

Based on The Tampa Tribune, Gates' unique infiltration into Hillsborough schools carries on:

Among the district's accomplishments under her supervision are achieving an A grade overall for the district in recent years on the state's report card, earning national accreditation for the district for the first time, and landing a $100 million grant to improve teacher effectiveness from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.


Can't they point out what Gates has to personally gain from this? Well, as we pointed out and showed here before, a lot of the education press the Gates Foundation simply funds (it's PR which the foundation consistently calls "communication"). This is how it controls coverage and sets the agenda. This is why Web sites about schools and education overwhelmingly continue to kiss the foundation's feet/shoes whereas it's left just to small blogs like Seattle Education 2010 to shine some light.

Last month we pointed out that there is similar propaganda from Gates regarding libraries. Gates sponsors all sorts of self-serving 'studies' which are quoted everywhere (setting the agenda with their position papers and self-serving surveys/papers about public libraries) and this is how he takes over US libraries, even some in Greece. On the subject of Gates in libraries we wrote in posts such as:



Gates is still up to it, putting Windows-based computers on desks which will serve many thousands of people (each computer will):

The Gates grant is focused on helping libraries that are serving populations in need of the assistance and which are vulnerable to having their technological service become obsolete.


More here and also here, to name an example from the middle of the month:

State library getting federal money for broadband



[...]

The U.S. Commerce Department funding will cover most of the project's cost. The rest is coming from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rasmuson Foundation.


Those who do not want to learn may choose to believe that Gates is a generous donator, but those who are insensitive to PR campaigns may remember Bill Gates saying "Get me into that and goddam, we'll make so much money!"

Recent Techrights' Posts

Online Safety Act Tries to Accomplish the Impossible
All I can say is, "good luck with that!"
Microsoft Windows "Market Share" Measured Around 2.7% in Iraq, Plunges to 6.5% in Saudi Arabia
Microsoft isn't on the agenda in Iraq
Video: The Rise of GNU/Linux and Free Software as Seen by RMS in 2004
DTP's founder argued that when Windows goes below 85% "market share", it'll lose its grip in the monopoly sense
 
Next Month 'New Techrights' Turns Two
Next month, on the fourth week, it'll be 2 years since the migration
Definitely Not a Ponzi Scheme
Bitcoin v Microsoft
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a Billionaires' Lobby
Billionaires that control tech companies
Microsoft Borrows 3 Billion Dollars Per Month, a Company Truly Worth Trillions Would Not Do This
if Windows (and Office) "market share" fell from about 90% to barely 30%, how come Microsoft is now "valued" at 20 times more?
It's Even Worse Than Microsoft Lunduke Puts It; GNOME is SLAPPing Journalists
In our experience, GNOME is so malicious - some elements of it in particular - that it would launch multiple simultaneous SLAPP campaigns not only against journalists but also their spouses
GNU/Linux Adoption Reaches All-Time Highs in Chile, statCounter Indicates
This month marks 4 years since Vista 11 came out (as a fake "leak") and some surveys still measure its adoption at less than 40%
Slop Will Not Change the World
Some of us grow up sooner and leave that nonsense behind (or altogether avoid/skip it)
Gemini Links 03/08/2025: Nostalgia and TOFU
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 02, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, August 02, 2025
Google Throwing Out the Search Engine With the Bathwater is a Complete and Utter 'Shi---ow' as the Company Drowns in Debt, Layoffs, and Worse
The mainstream media almost never mentions GAFAM debt
Operating Systems' Statistics in New Zealand: GNU/Linux Up, Windows Down to All-Time Lows
Remember all this when the media says that Microsoft became like 10 times more valuable in those 15 years (from 400 billion to 4,000 billion in alleged "worth")
GNU/Linux Share in Sweden Has Doubled Since PewDiePie, A Swede, Recommended It
months ago he moved to GNU/Linux, then told others to consider doing the same
GNU/Linux Hits Record High in Portugal
GNU/Linux picking up in Portugal
Gemini Protocol is Not Dying, It's Growing
When people say things like "Gemini Protocol is dying" the data does not support them
GNU/Linux is Thriving This Summer
It is meanwhile acknowledged, even by Microsoft pushers, that many GNU/Linux PCs will get sabotaged next month
The End of Microsoft's Reign in Spain: Windows Falls to All-Time Lows in Spanish Web Traffic
Windows sank to new lows in Spain
The Bots Never Sleep: In The Weekends, Slopfarms Dominate Google News, Majority of Entries in Google Are Fake Articles About 'Linux'
Google is fast becoming an ocean of plagiarism; the same goes for Google News, which was supposed to have extra quality control
Russia's Yandex Has Caught Up With Bing in Terms of "Market Share"
Microsoft has been firing loads of Bing workers for over 2 years already
Canada: GNU/Linux Up to Records Highs, Windows Down to Record Lows
Microsoft already announcing some plans to shut down Vista 11
Gemini Links 02/08/2025: Transducers in Typed Racket and American ISPs
Links for the day
Links 02/08/2025: Microsoft Already Kills Vista 11 SE, Smartphone Sales Down, Truth Gets "You're Fired!" in the US
Links for the day
Russia: GNU/Linux Rises to Highest Adoption Level Since Invasion of Ukraine
Moving up in the north
Microsoft's Latest Financial Report: We "Gained" 300 Million Dollars in "Goodwill" and Liabilities Grew by 32 Billion Dollars
Microsoft's debt has reached an all-time high
The Register US = The Register MS
Formerly The Register UK
Weeks After Microsoft Shut Down Its Operations in Pakistan Windows Falls to All-Time Lows
Only less than a month ago it was quietly revealed, based on laid-off staff, that Microsoft shut down in Pakistan
Criminal Behaviour is the Standard Operating Procedure at Microsoft
In the future I'll be able to tell how, when dealing with SLAPPs from Microsofters, their Microsoft services failed me and sometimes even blocked my contacts
GNU/Linux Rises to All-Time Highs in Europe
many people will get fired for buying Microsoft
All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux on the Client Desktop/Laptop, Based on Steam Survey
GNU/Linux rose to 2.89% in Steam
Links 02/08/2025: Blaugust 2025 and "Russia Declares Navalny Memoir ‘Extremist’"
Links for the day
Free Software is Not a Business Model
Go ahead, ask your friend, "how do you plan to monetise your children?"
When (Almost) One-Man Operations Are Disguised as Medium-Sized Companies
the CEO hides in the US (hiding from his ex-wives, 4 daughters from those wives, and Sirius staff that he defrauded)
LLM Slop Harms Real Literature, Real Web Sites, Real Journalism
LLM slop is a parasite and it'll run out of legitimate outputs
Upcoming OSI Scandal Series
The OSI is a rogue actor because it serves Microsoft in exchange for money
Slopwatch: The Issue Persists, But the Consensus in the Media Changes as Google Enrages It With LLM Plagiarism
We've meanwhile assessed the latest output from Linuxiac
Microsoft Actually in Trouble, Microsofters Unable to Obey Judges' Orders
For the second time in a week, Microsofters are unable to obey orders
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 01, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, August 01, 2025
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Links 02/08/2025: İstanbul Retail Inflation Reaches 42.48%, US FBI Opens Office in New Zealand
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/08/2025: ZFS, LLM Hype, and Fake Modules
Links for the day
Links 01/08/2025: Health, Conflict, and Attacks on Freedom of the Press
Links for the day
Microsoft's Debt Exploded by 15.4 Billion Dollars in the Past 9 Months Alone (Despite All the Layoffs)
As of minutes ago, at 6PM on a Friday, the numbers are made public
Meeting (Webchat) With Maria Arranz Gomez, Florian Grundies, Jürgen Janda and Konstantinos Kortsaris Confronts EPO Management About Breaking Promises and Crushing Workers
The lack of consistent messages suggests plans other than what's advertised and the lack of consultation (secrecy) likewise
Links 01/08/2025: "The Great British Firewall" and U.S. Army Sponsors Palantir
Links for the day
For Second Day in a Row, Top Story in The Register MS is "Microsoft Says"
The editor in chief exercises control over everybody else
LLMs as Attack Method Against Free Software and Programming
DDoS in "hey hi" (slop) clothing
Stability and Reliability, Backward Compatibility
I don't fancy relying on social control media as "sources"
What "the News" Looks Like in 2025
The "says" (or "sez") phenomenon
History Will Be Distorted, Sometimes Intentionally, Under the Guise of Intelligence (Manipulated/Curated Slop)
Militarised misinformation or military-grade chaff is a national security threat, even domestically
Financial Engineering Companies: A Company Worth 4 Trillion Dollars Would Not Borrow 100+ Billion Dollars at Interest Rates Like Today's
Many headlines perpetuate the lie Microsoft had just 2 waves of layoffs
Microsoft is Googlebombing "Linux" While Paying Former News Sites to Publish SPAM
How much lower will IDG sink?
Google as a 'Bullshit Generator' Disguised as Intelligence
It'll probably cause Google to get sued a lot, both by individuals and companies
As Expected, Google in the UK Now Experiments With Slop Instead of Web Search
At this point more people ought to stop and think: Does Google's search engine deserve trust?
The Data You Don't Give Away is Your Advantage
stop sharing data that does not need to be shared
Being Obedient or Doing the Right Thing
The world always changes for the better because of people who think "Outside the Box", not the cogs
Gemini Links 01/08/2025: Happy Hacking Keyboards and New Gemini Arrivals
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 31, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 31, 2025