Counter-Philanthrophy

Maybe I'm not the only one who missed this "breaking news" from last month in The Onion: U.S. Dedicates $64 Billion To Undermining Gates Foundation Efforts.

"The Bush Administration unveiled a new $64 billion spending package Monday for a joint CIA–Pentagon program aimed at neutralizing the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's global humanitarian network."

I know more than a few people -- most of them not fans of the Bush administration -- who only wish that it were true. Via Mike Lach's Teach and Learn.

In a much more serious take on the same topic, Samuel Freedman opines in today's NYT education column that the influx of private dollars into a school system often comes without very much accountability for some of its efforts (The Not-So-Public Part of the Public Schools:): "This not-so-public part of the public school system has received more than $330 million in grants and donations from private sources over the past three years, according to Education Department statistics."