The new curriculum driven into de facto law by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, the Common Core Standards, is a product of massive spending on an unprecedented historical level by Bill Gates.

Research by Jack Hassard, Professor Emeritus at Georgia State, shows compelling evidence that Gates has spent $2.3 billion pushing the Common Core. More than 1800 grants to organizations running from teachers unions to state departments of education to political groups like the National Governor’s Association have pushed the Common Core into 45 states, with little transparency and next to no public review.

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The Common Core now represents a de facto and de jure national school curriculum, something theoretically prohibited by federal law. States were forced to adopt the Common Core to “compete” for federal recovery funds, funds that only offset a small portion of the costs of adopting Common Core. But the Common Core comes with common high-stakes tests and common textbooks, making the standards are more than standards.

The Gates involvement, profiteering by testing publishers like Pearson and the heavy-hand of federal coercion in the Common Core has aroused political opposition from right and left, as well as from education experts who have called the standards inappropriate developmentally, pushing young children into material they aren’t ready for.

The Colorado Department of Education was a major recipient of Gates Foundation money, during a time when funding for Colorado classrooms was slashed. CDE’s Colorado Legacy Foundation received $9.7 million in Gates money in 2011, and $1.4 million in a second grant that year. CDE received another $6 million in 2012. In 2012, and 2010, CDE received $1.74 million each. In 2013, $828,000 was received. At over $22 million in recent years, the Colorado Department of Education is one of the largest Gates recipients in the nation.

Colorado Legacy Foundation 2012 College-Ready US Program $1,748,337

Denver Public Schools received $10 million in a grant that was largely purposed to boosting charter school enrollment in 2010. In 2012, DPS received $4 million. For 2011, it was a paltry $1.1 million. Another $10 million came to the district in 2013, making DPS one of Bill Gates largest clients. Prior to 2010, DPS netted nearly $900,000.

The Aspen Institute, which has spearheaded a program that looks to break teacher’s unions, received nearly $4 million in 2009 and prior. It took in another $3.6 million in 2013, along with another $1.5 million that year.

Colorado Children’s Campaign, a group whose mission has morphed into pushing charter schools and vouchers, has received $8.7 million. It’s former head, Barbara O’Brien now sits on the DPS School Board, underscoring the deep conflicts of interest causes by the massive Gates giving. Critics say the only programs getting attention in DPS are those funded by Gates.

Stand for Children, an astro-turf[sociallocker id=17897] lobbying organization that has lobbied on behalf of the Common Core, received $3.4 in 2010. In 2012, it took in another $3.2 million. In 2013, a non-election year, Stand received just under $900,000.

The Fund for Colorado’s Future took in $1.6 million in 2009 and prior years. The Colorado League of Charter Schools brought in $800,000 in 2011. The Rose Community Foundation received $350,000 in 2013. Colorado Succeeds, a group led by a Republican political operative, netted $400,000 in 2013.

Jeffco Schools received $5.2 million in 2013. Mapleton Public Schools, the launching pad of Colorado State Senator Mike Johnston, received $2.7 million in 2009 and prior. Johnston was the prime mover behind SB191, the bill which destroyed teacher tenure in Colorado.

A Colorado bill to halt the implementation of the Common Core was killed by Democrats in the Colorado legislature earlier this year. Other states have been less timid. Indiana will scrap the Common Core and replace it with new state standards by July.

—Guerin Lee Green

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