Full Description
This book is about conservative philanthropies, the organizations and individuals within their networks, and the strategies they use to shape educational policy and practice in K-12 and higher education. Each chapter examines a philanthropy, philanthropic network, or corporation focused on pushing an agenda of individualism, privatization, and conservative ideologies. Based in extensive research, including the tax filings of specific philanthropic foundations, the authors demonstrate how the philanthropic elite work within federal, state, and local governmental contexts to influence policy and practice. Within a global context of increasing wealth inequality, the authors question the motivations of these privileged few to withhold tax dollars from the US treasury where duly elected representatives can determine how tax dollars are used to benefit society. By allowing these philanthropic organizations tax exemptions under the guise of assumed benevolence, are citizens giving up their ability to hold these organizations accountable for how the money is spent? This book, aimed at a general audience of educators, provides the in-depth knowledge necessary to understand and resist private control of public policies and institutions.
Contents
List of Tables and Figures
Acknowledgments
Preface
1. Benevolence or Tax Avoidance? A Primer for Understanding How Philanthropic Foundations Work—Kathleen de Marrais, Brigette Herron, and JanieCopple
2. Ideology and the Education Debate: Examining the Powell Memorandum's Influence on Education Policy and Neoliberal Reform Models—Jamie C. Atkinson
3. Lochner's Redeemers: How the Federalist Society and the Institute of Justice Impact the School Privatization Movement—Brian Dotts
4. The Myth of Educational Freedom: The DeVos Family's Influence on Educational Policy—Jamie B. Lewis
5. Tracking Catholic School Funding From K-12 Through Higher Education—Kevin J. Burke
6. The City Fund Takes It to "The People": How Top-Down Reforms Imposed on New Orleans Will Be Bankrolled as Bottom-Up Initiatives in Cities—KristenBuras
7. The Walton Family Foundation: Key Players, Initiatives, and Its Growing Influence on Colleges and Universities—Kathleende Marrais, Brigette Herron, and Janie Copple
8. Conservative Philanthropy and Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Historical Trends and the Current Landscape—E.Anthony Muhammad
9. Operationalizing Toxic Ideology: How Radical Right-Wing Campus Organizations Undermine Democratic Engagement—T. Jameson Brewer and Amy Swain
10. Miseducation of Communities: Sinclair Broadcasting and the Nationalization of Local News—Janie Copple, Kathleen deMarrais, and Brigette Herron
Coda—Brigette Herron, Kathleen deMarrais, and Janie Copple
Author Bios
Index
