Grass-roots school advocacy

A recent article in the New York Times tells the story of how grass-roots school advocacy groups that are funded by the Gates Foundation are making impact in the education field. The activities that are funded range from those who are advocating change to the current educational system that included challenging the teacher seniority system and the use of student scores to evaluate teachers.

The president of the foundation's United States program, Allan Golston, said "We’ve learned that school-level investments aren’t enough to drive systemic changes." In 2009, the foundation ended up spending $373 million on education and devoted $78 million to advocacy. Over the next five to six years, Mr. Golston indicated that the foundation is ready to spend $3.5 billion more on education.