Critics Question Philanthropist’s Growing Influence in Big School Districts

Twenty-one of the country’s 75 largest school districts are now led by alumni of the philanthropist Eli Broad’s training center for education administrators, prompting growing scrutiny of the billionaire’s influence on U.S. schools, Education Week writes.

Critics say graduates of the Broad Superintendents Academy pursue a policy of corporatizing schools, applying business-management techniques to education, and diluting the roles of teachers and parents.

“What I see happening is that they colonize districts,” said Diane Ravitch, an education historian and critic of philanthropy efforts led by Mr. Broad, Bill Gates, and others. “Once there’s a Broad superintendent, he surrounds himself with Broad fellows, and they have a preference towards privatization.” (Read Ms. Ravitch’s opinion article for The Chronicle attacking the billionaires’ influence on education philanthropy.)

Erica Lepping, a Broad Foundation spokeswoman, said the academy’s training exposes participants to a variety of viewpoints and that the management techniques it promotes have been used successfully by school systems and nonprofits as well as businesses.

Plus: The Los Angeles Times writes that Mr. Broad, a major advocate for the city’s new downtown arts high school, played a substantial role in forcing out the planned institution’s principal and luring a New York arts educator to take the post.

The newspaper cites sources close to the decision. A Broad spokeswoman said he has not been involved in recent school actions.