Conflicts of Interest by Common Core Supporters
The Common Core standards system is funded by a very tangled web of government, quasi-government, and unaccountable private entities. While there are other corporations and foundations involved, the eight hundred pound gorilla in this effort is by far and away the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which has given over $150 million to this cause so far. The Microsoft Corporation stands to reap billions in profits from the educational software and testing involved with the new standards. The Gates' influence, however, has been enlarged by several orders of magnitude because their contributions have gone to other organizations involved in writing and promoting the standards to the public and policymakers. These include Achieve, The Council of Chief State School Officers, and the National Governor's Association that wrote the standards, and then the Thomas B. Fordham Institute which rates state standards, and of course found that the Common Core was better than most of the state standards they reviewed. The national PTA, which is trying to calm parents' concerns about the standards, also received large contributions.
In Florida, it is important to note that two foundations founded by former governor Jeb Bush have received significant contributions from the Gates Foundation and both the governor and his foundations have been actively promoting the standards to the point of testifying against delaying or defunding Common Core in Indiana and Michigan. In fact 26/32 of the organizations that testified against Indiana's "pause" legislation, including the two Bush foundations received contributions from the Gates Foundation. Fortunately they were all ultimately unsuccessful in Indiana as they were in Michigan. Indiana "paused" the implementation of Common Core and Michigan defunded the standards and their implementation pending further review.
In addition, Exxon-Mobil has funded major advertising campaigns in favor of Common Core and their CEO actually threatened both Florida and Pennsylvania about withdrawing from both states if they did not implement Common Core.
In Florida, it is important to note that two foundations founded by former governor Jeb Bush have received significant contributions from the Gates Foundation and both the governor and his foundations have been actively promoting the standards to the point of testifying against delaying or defunding Common Core in Indiana and Michigan. In fact 26/32 of the organizations that testified against Indiana's "pause" legislation, including the two Bush foundations received contributions from the Gates Foundation. Fortunately they were all ultimately unsuccessful in Indiana as they were in Michigan. Indiana "paused" the implementation of Common Core and Michigan defunded the standards and their implementation pending further review.
In addition, Exxon-Mobil has funded major advertising campaigns in favor of Common Core and their CEO actually threatened both Florida and Pennsylvania about withdrawing from both states if they did not implement Common Core.
