蜜桃影视

For Ken Slentz, Gov. Andrew Cuomo鈥檚 in early May that New York was partnering with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to 鈥渞eimagine education鈥� was d茅j脿 vu all over again.

From 2011 to 2014, Slentz served as New York鈥檚 deputy commissioner for PK-12 Education, making him the point person for controversial Gates-funded work around the Common Core standards, teacher evaluation, and a data-sharing program that shut down following criticism that it was disconnected from teachers鈥� realities and parents鈥� concerns.

Now, as some advocacy organizations said they were by Cuomo鈥檚 announcement, Slentz said he is 鈥渉oping against hope鈥� that educators will be patient and not 鈥渃ome out of the gate opposed.鈥�

Like almost everything these days, there are more questions than answers about the partnership. The scope and duration are unclear, as is the extent of involvement from the Gates Foundation. In the absence of details, some people are looking to the foundation鈥檚 past work in New York state for clues, and 鈥� between a in 2003 to develop small high schools to a in 2020 to support students with disabilities during distance learning and in other contributions in between 鈥� there are many.

The Cuomo administration, the Gates Foundation, and Jim Malatras, a former Cuomo aide who is chairing the governor-appointed committee leading the effort, declined to comment for this story. But multiple interviews, including with a member of the committee, suggest that the alliance between the tech titan and the governor whose star has risen during the pandemic might be less grand than the reimagining-education pronouncement first indicated.

In the original release, Cuomo outlined about 鈥渨hat education should look like in the future鈥� that the partnership will focus on. Each question mentions 鈥渢echnology鈥� and differs only by which group it refers to leveraging technology for: teachers, students with disabilities, English learners, higher education students, and so on. In a , Cuomo said the Gates Foundation will work with the committee to 鈥渄evelop a blueprint to reimagine education in the new normal.鈥�

鈥淚 think we now have a moment in history where we can actually incorporate and advance those ideas,鈥� Cuomo said during his May 5 daily briefing about rethinking how classrooms work and technology鈥檚 role. 鈥淵ou get moments in history where people say, 鈥業’m ready for change.鈥� I think this is one of those moments.鈥�

But according to Stephanie Conklin, a high school math teacher who is one of two teachers on the 19-member advisory council, the group鈥檚 focus so far has been more immediate, more traditional and 鈥� with the fresh surge in COVID-19 cases across the country 鈥� more urgent.

鈥淥ur real task is how do we open safely in the fall, with face-to-face [instruction] as much as possible,鈥� she said.

Conklin, who teaches in Colonie, a suburb of Albany, said she has spent hours talking with groups of teachers from throughout New York state as part of the committee鈥檚 work to develop guidance that will support districts with managing back-to-school efforts. The committee meets weekly, Conklin said, but as of late June she had not interacted with any officials from the Gates Foundation, and work on any 鈥渂lueprint鈥� appeared to be on hold until the reopening plans were released.

The plans鈥� rollout became enmeshed in bureaucracy. On , Cuomo said safety guidance for school reopening would be released in early June. June passed, and on Cuomo said the state Department of Health, which he oversees, was working on guidance with the Reimagine Education Advisory Council and 鈥渙thers.鈥� On July 13, Cuomo shared the 23-page That same day, the State Education Department, which Cuomo does not control, released a 145-page guidance document created by its Reopening Schools Task Force.

For its part, the Gates Foundation said in that its role was limited to 鈥渞ecommending education experts who can help advise and inform this work鈥� and 鈥渃ontributing our own insights from years of working with partners in New York state and across the country.鈥�

The foundation鈥檚 history in New York is extensive, and much of its giving does not draw headlines. In 2013, for instance, it to the Literacy Design Collaborative, a nonprofit that makes rigorous writing assignments available to low-income students. Some of its giving has also had a significantly positive effect. The small-high-school movement, for example, which started in 2002 in New York City and which the Gates Foundation , 鈥渕arkedly increased high school graduation rates for large numbers of disadvantaged students of color,鈥� according to .

But the Gates Foundation is better known in the state for its , which Cuomo backed before he amid public backlash in 2014, and linking test scores to teacher evaluation, which Cuomo also supported before making a amid public backlash in 2015. And then there鈥檚 inBloom, a $100 million initiative 鈥減rimarily funded鈥� by the Gates Foundation to create a centralized, open platform for student data and other educational resources, according to a from the Data & Society Research Institute.

inBloom launched in 2013 with a commitment from nine states, including New York, before shutting down in 2014 amid, yes, public backlash, this time largely about data privacy. inBloom鈥檚 demise was primarily caused by its 鈥渇ailure to communicate the benefits of its platform and achieve buy-in from key stakeholders,鈥� the report found.

Monica Bulger, a research affiliate at Data & Society and a co-author of the 2017 report, said the new partnership does not suggest that the Gates Foundation or the state is applying lessons learned from the inBloom debacle and, in her opinion, now is not the time for a new technology-driven initiative.

鈥淲e are in an emergency situation, not an opportunity for ed-tech or tech philanthropists to experiment with our kids,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t might seem like this moment requires moving fast, but actually this is a time where teachers and schools are already rethinking pedagogy to meet student needs. In terms of reimagining, it鈥檚 already happening.鈥�

Slentz, the former New York state education official, is skeptical about the mid-pandemic announcement of the new partnership and what it might ultimately lead to, but he鈥檚 adopting a more wait-and-see attitude.

鈥淚鈥檓 hoping, but also I understand that people will revert to history and have that understandable but unfortunate sentiment, that 鈥楬ere we go again, we鈥檙e trying to do that top-down education reform, that they tried that before and that didn鈥檛 work鈥� kind of thing,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 worry that we鈥檒l be at that point again.鈥�

Disclosure: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provides financial support for 蜜桃影视.

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