Jeff Bezos spends $ 2 billion to help the homeless and educate poor children. It looks good. Is it?

The founder and CEO of Amazon, Jeffrey P. Bezos, announced last week that he and his wife MacKenzie were planning to spend $ 2 billion to help the homeless and develop preschool education. in low-income communities.

The $ 2 billion investment will be the first of what the Bezoses call the Bezos Day One Fund. Non-profit organizations that help homeless families can apply for grants, Bezos said, and he and his wife will start an organization to run a network of free, quality, non-profit preschools. (Bezos owns the Washington Post.)

Bezos said in his statement (see at the end of the post) that he had solicited ideas on how he should help others, and he and his wife decided that:

We are delighted to announce today the Bezos Day One Fund. It will begin with a commitment of $ 2 billion and will focus on two areas: funding non-profit organizations that help homeless families and creating a network of new kindergartens aimlessly in low-income communities.

The Day Day Families Fund will award annual leadership awards to organizations and civic groups that do compassionate work to help meet the immediate needs of young families. The vision statement comes from the inspiring Mary's Place in Seattle: no child sleeps on the outside.

The First Day Academies Fund will launch and operate a network of Montessori-inspired, high-quality, fully-funded preschool facilities in underserved communities. We will build an organization to directly operate these kindergartens. I am very excited because it will give us the opportunity to learn, invent and improve. We will use the same set of principles that drove Amazon. The most important of them will be a real customer obsession. The child will be the client. "The education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire." And lighting this early fire is a gigantic leg for any child.

Two billion dollars is a lot of money (the estimated wealth of Bezos is more than 150 billion dollars, the largest in modern history after adjustment for inflation) and can, in all likelihood, make much good.

To use it well, the Bezos initiative has the merit of being different from what we have seen other educational philanthropists in recent years: it is supported by research on what works for children. Many investments in education by others, such as Microsoft founder Bill Gates, have not been.

But this raises larger questions about modern philanthropy and a movement in this country to privatize public functions. It also highlights the role of the rich in policy making.

In recent years, America's wealthiest citizens have collectively contributed billions of dollars to efforts to change public education. Some think that the public system is inefficient. some simply do not believe in the public sector. Whatever the motive, these billionaires have been able to lead the public education agenda in many ways. This includes paying cash to pet projects through non-profit organizations that they create or fund heavily, donating money directly to school districts to pursue initiatives or playing games. a leading role in public-private partnerships.

But critics say that it is fundamentally undemocratic that individuals assume the basic responsibilities of the government, such as helping the homeless and educating the children. In a democracy, public policies should not be driven by people who are not elected and who are responsible to no one but themselves, say these critics.

Bezos' use of business language in his announcement also raises questions about his approach to preschool education. He stated that he would use "the same set of principles that drove Amazon" and made the child "the customer".

With that, he sounds like school "reformers" who have tried for years to inject business principles – competition, big data use, "measurable" results, "disruptions" – into the activities of schools and systems that educate millions of children. year.

[What and who are fueling the movement to privatize public education — and why you should care]

Those who want to adapt business principles to schools say that traditional public schools have run out of children and that alternatives should be expanded. These include charter schools, which are financed by the public sector but managed by the private sector; online learning; and programs that use public funds for religious and private education.

But critics say civic institutions, such as the country's popular public education system, operate differently from business. Years of effort to run schools like businesses have not worked well, but instead have forced public schools into questionable accountability systems and other problems.

[A case study of how the ultra-wealthy spend millions to get what they want in school reform]

Critics say that children are not products whose results can only be measured by data. And if the relationship of a company with its client can be described as transactional, the relationship between the school and its students can not; it's deeper and much more complex.

Larry Cuban's 2004 book, "The Chalkboard and the Balance Sheet: Why Schools Can not Be Business," tells the story of an epiphany of Jamie Vollmer, a former leader of an ice cream company that is became an advocate for education. Vollmer wrote, "Schools can not do it alone." Speaking at a school, he angered teachers by insisting that schools be run like businesses. He said in part:

I was convinced of two things. First, public schools had to change; they were archaic selection and sorting mechanisms designed for the industrial era and out of step with the needs of our emerging "knowledge society". Secondly, educators played a major role in the problem: they resisted change by mandate and protected by a bureaucratic monopoly. They needed to turn to business. We have been able to produce quality. No defect! TQM! Continuous improvement!

In retrospect, the speech was perfectly balanced – equally, ignorance and arrogance.

As soon as I finished, a woman's hand got up. She seemed polite, nice. In fact, she was a state-of-the-art high school English teacher waiting to be discharged.

She began quietly: "We are told, sir, that you run a business that makes good ice cream.

I answered blissfully, "The best ice cream in America, Maam".

"How nice is that," she said. "Is it rich and smooth?"

"Sixteen percent fat," I sang.

"Top quality ingredients?

"Super premium! Only triple A." I was on a roll. I've never seen the next line come up.

"Mr. Vollmer," she said, leaning forward with a wicked eyebrow raised to the sky, "when you are standing on your reception platform and you see a lower shipment of blueberries arrive, what are you doing?"

In the silence of this room, I could hear the trap breaking … I was dead meat, but I was not going to lie.

"I send them back."

She jumped to her feet. "It's true!" She barked, "and we will never be able to return our blueberries, we take them big, small, rich, poor, gifted, exceptional, abused, frightened, confident, homeless, impolite and brilliant." We take them with ADHD , rheumatoid arthritis junior and English as a second language We take them all! All people! And that, Mr. Vollmer, is the reason why it's not a bargain. !

Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Eli Broad, Alice Walton and Michael Bloomberg are just a few of the philanthropists who have invested fortunes in efforts to "reform" public education into a business model.

(There are many major donors in this space, as detailed in a new report titled "Hijacked by Billionaires" by the Network for Public Education, a group advocating public education.)

Sometimes, these philanthropists direct funds to school systems for the creation or use of curricula, educational technologies, and assessment systems. And, sometimes they participate in elections for school boards, city councils, mayors and governors by financially supporting applicants who wish to develop charter schools or programs that use public funds for religious education and private.

Consider Gates' many forays into the world of education. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – the largest educational philanthropy in the country and probably the world – has spent more than $ 2 billion on education initiatives. Yet the Microsoft founder conceded that these investments had not worked well, if at all, including one to create teacher assessment models using student test scores. The valuation experts warned that using the scores in this way was not valid, but Gates believes in "measurable" results and in a "responsibility" and did it anyway , together with the Obama administration. A recent report called him a resignation, which did not surprise teachers.

[Bill Gates spent hundreds of millions of dollars to improve teaching. New report says it was a bust.]

Gates also funded a multi-million dollar charter school initiative in Washington State, with Jackie and Mike Bezos (parents of Bezos), Walton and other school "reformers" as they wanted charter schools . time. The initiative was adopted narrowly, although the state Supreme Court found it unconstitutional thereafter. Lawmakers passed a Charter Schools Act in 2016, which is challenged in court, and there are more than a dozen charter schools in the state of Washington.

In fact, there are already excellent work models for just about everything Gates has funded in public education over the past 15 years: designing and operating small schools, quality standards, evaluation fair and reliable teachers and teacher preparation. The same is true for other philanthropists, leaving many educators wondering why so much money was spent on projects they thought were useless.

Another thing to consider about the statement of Bezos that he will use the principles of Amazon in the construction of its preschool network: the treatment of workers. According to this August 23 article in The Post:

Bezos, which founded Amazon in 1994, has seen its net worth rise steadily in recent months as the stock market rises to record highs. It is currently valued at $ 157 billion, against $ 99 billion a year ago, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires index. The median Amazon employee, meanwhile, was paid $ 28,446 last year, according to the company's records. (The federal poverty line for a family of four is $ 24,600).

Early childhood educators are among the lowest paid teachers, even those with a university degree. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median salary for these teachers in 2017 was $ 28,990 per year.. Pre-school teachers with a bachelor's degree earn on average less than kindergarten teachers, and often less than fast-food workers and other jobs requiring minimal training. Although there has been a movement to raise the status and salary of preschool educators in state-funded schools, it remains to be seen whether this will affect private kindergartens, such as those that Bezos wants to open. .

The Bezos plan provides for the opening of Montessori-based preschool facilities, based on the work of Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori. She believed that children learn best by working with material – not through direct academic instruction – and when they have the right to choose their own activities. Children in these schools are not sitting at desks with worksheets; instead, they learn to focus, to be independent, to explore the senses, to solve problems, and to acquire other skills by performing artistic and scientific projects or by sweeping the ground. and wiping the table.

Early childhood education is a priority of the Bezos Family Foundation, run by his parents. And it is her mother's passion for creating Vroom, an initiative to highlight the science of early brain development and guide parents in using daily routines to help children develop their brains.

The best research on preschool says that it offers benefits throughout the child's schooling and beyond (but, as with any subject in education, you may find research to claim that the third or the fourth year disappears). W. Steven Barnett, director of Rutgers University's National Institute for Research in Preschool Education, wrote in a report entitled "Getting the Right Information on Pre-K":

The most recent peer-reviewed meta-analysis summarizes the results of 123 studies. He found that, despite some decrease in effects after children enter school, the average effects did not disappear and remained significant. He found that, despite some decrease in effects after children enter school, the average effects did not disappear and remained significant.

Cognitive gains from preschool programs were greater when programs focused on intentional and individualized instruction and small group learning. Programs with these characteristics produced long-term cognitive effects equivalent to half or more of the achievement gap until the end of secondary school. This is consistent with the results of previous meta-analyzes. More generally, the long-term effects include gains in performance and socio-emotional development, a decrease in repetition and special education, and an increase in the high school graduation rate. The average long-term cognitive effect is about half as important as the average initial effect, suggesting that relatively large initial effects are needed to produce substantial long-term gains. The bottom line: Pre-Ks produce substantial long-term gains, especially when programs are properly designed.

Bezos made his announcement while he was in the district last week during a visit during which he appeared at the Economic Club in a conversation with financier and philanthropist David Rubenstein. Although Bezos does not speak specifically about his new fund, he gave an overview of how he thinks of the public and private sectors:

"If you have a mission, you can do it with the government, you can do it non-profit and you can do it for profit. If you can find out how to do it for profit, it has many benefits for many reasons. First, he is autonomous. . . . Here is my iPhone. The last thing we need is a company, a non-profit corporation that makes phones. It is a healthy competitive ecosystem that likes to build these things. "

But, he said, nonprofit structures are working to solve problems without a market solution, citing the Gates Foundation's efforts to create vaccines that should not be refrigerated.

Bezos went on to say that there is no nonprofit model that can make the military and judicial system work, leaving their work to the government.

It remains to be seen how all this will happen and what will come from the promised $ 2 billion investment by Jeffrey and MacKenzie Bezos. You can be sure that advocates of public education will follow each step closely.

Here is the complete statement of Bezos:

I often talk about the importance of maintaining a first day mentality. It's always day 1 and I work hard to apply that state of mind to everything I do. It was a day 1 perspective that brought me to ask for suggestions on approaches to philanthropy last year. By so many important measures, the world continues to improve and it is one of the fantastic aspects of human nature that we, humans, never stop looking for (and finding!) Ways to improve things. Our lives are better than the lives of our grandparents and their lives were better than the lives of their great-grandparents before them. If our great-grandchildren do not have a better life than ours, something is wrong. Where is the good in the world and how can we spread it? Where are the opportunities to improve things? These are exciting questions.

MacKenzie and I believe in the potential for hard work of anyone to serve others. We all have this ability. Business innovators who invent empowering products, writers who write books, public servants at the service of their community, teachers, doctors, carpenters, artists who make us laugh and cry, parents who raise their lives a lot more. In addition to Amazonia, my areas of interest have so far been investing in the future of our planet and our civilization through the development of fundamental space infrastructures, support for American democracy through the Washington Post management and financial contributions to various causes, ranging from cancer research to equality of marriage, scholarships for immigrant students, and the reduction of political polarization through partisan support for veterans of the next generation.

We are delighted to announce today the Bezos Day One Fund. It will begin with a commitment of $ 2 billion and will focus on two areas: funding non-profit organizations that help homeless families and creating a network of new kindergartens aimlessly in low-income communities.

The Day Day Families Fund will award annual leadership awards to organizations and civic groups that do compassionate work to help meet the immediate needs of young families. The vision statement comes from the inspiring Mary's Place in Seattle: no child sleeps outside.

The First Day Academies Fund will launch and operate a network of Montessori-inspired, high-quality, fully-funded preschool facilities in underserved communities. We will build an organization to directly operate these kindergartens. I am very excited because it will give us the opportunity to learn, invent and improve. We will use the same set of principles that drove Amazon. The most important of them will be a real customer obsession. The child will be the client. "The education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire." And lighting this early fire is a gigantic leg for any child.

I want to conclude by thanking all those who have sent me suggestions and for inspiring examples of innovation that I see every day, big and small. It fills me with gratitude and optimism to be part of a species so concerned about its personal development.

It remains day 1!

Jeff