"Gee Whiz" NYT Piece on Venture Philanthropy

For almost a decade now, new-model school reform efforts dubbed "venture philanthropy" and "social entrepreneurship" have intrigued education writers and schoolpeople alike.

That's not unexpected. Venture philanthropy sounds new, sexy, and cool, and indeed there are some pretty smart people involved. It also signals the arrival of a whole new set of philanthropic organizations. And clearly the NYT is pretty enamored (Venture Capitalists Are Investing in Educational Reform).

But before you get on the bandwagon remember that it's not clear that the venture philanthropy folks do any better with their investments than the traditional funders. And so far at least most of the venture-type efforts focus on charter school expansion.