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Opinion: The Edsel of Education Reform (Wall Street Journal 11/17/09)
We hate to say it, but don't be misled by headlines. The biggest headline in education circles last week was that the Ford Foundation is making a whopping $100 million grant "to transform secondary education in the nation's most disadvantaged schools."
Our eyes raced to see which piece of the vibrant school-reform movement Ford was going to support. Would it be America's 4,600 charters schools, many outperforming their traditional school peers and some even closing the race gap? Maybe it would be Teach for America, busting at the seams and turning down Ivy League applicants by the hundreds. Or, who knows, maybe Ford's really on the leading edge, and would want to support voucher programs in cities like Washington....
Op-Ed: Rural Giving Needs to Grow (Stanford Social Innovation Review 11/10/09)
Rural America faces huge challenges, yet it seems to be off the radar of much of organized philanthropy.
While a 2005 study by the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers reported a "rapid rise in rural philanthropy," a study two years later by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy concluded grantmaking behavior and trends were "skewed heavily toward support for urban-based or urban-focused programs...."
Op-Ed: What's Wrong With Charitable Giving — and How to Fix It (Wall Street Journal 11/9/09)
It's hard to overstate the crisis facing charitable giving today. So let me just say it as plainly as I can: Much of current philanthropic giving, by foundations and individuals, neither meets the needs of our charitable organizations nor addresses some of our most urgent public needs.
Foundation practices today are too bureaucratic, inflexible and cautious, and too focused on short-term objectives. Too often, the process and procedures of grant making are more tailored to the needs of foundations and their trustees than to the requirements of nonprofits....
Op-Ed: Advice for the College-Bound: Wait (Washington Post 11/7/09)
Parents of high school seniors across the country have hired me as an admissions consultant. They want assurances that their children will be attending top colleges a year from now.
Again and again, I say: "I hope not...."
Op-Ed: Africans Should Become Their Own Philanthropists (Inter Press Service News Agency 11/6/09)
Africans "should dare to imagine an African world not defined by the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund but one that comes out of Africa". This is necessary for Africans to grow out of dependence and become the agents of their own development.
These were the words of Narciso Matos, executive director of the Foundation for Community Development in Mozambique, at the closing session of the "Energising Civil Society" conference held by Inyathelo, the South African Institute for Advancement, on Nov 2-5. The conference was attended by about 150 delegates, mostly from South Africa but also from across Africa and the globe....
Op-Ed: How Business Can Rescue the U.S. Economy (Business Week 11/5/09)
American business has been on the defensive for a decade — tarred by scandals at Enron and WorldCom, excoriated for excessive executive pay, and, most recently, scarred by the perception that government has rescued many financial institutions whose greed and shortsightedness led to the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. It shouldn't surprise us that opinion polls show that Americans, and their leaders in Washington, hold U.S. business in low esteem.
Now it's time for business to go on the offensive by playing a leading role in trying to solve the nation's economic problems. Our country faces structural challenges that are undeniable but, politically speaking, untouchable....
Op-Ed: For University Presidents, A Pay Cut Is In Order (Boston Globe 11/5/09)
Private research universities draw heavily on grants from the deficit-ridden federal government, on donors who have competing claims on their generosity, and on tuition from families with less and less ability to afford it. Therefore, a corresponding sense of belt-tightening is needed on campus — starting with the paychecks of university presidents.
It’s symbolic, to be sure, but not irrelevant, considering that the presidents are the ones seeking federal funds, courting rich alumni, and setting tuition rates. And it’s disappointing to realize that in 2008, a bad year even before the credit collapse, the salaries of presidents at major research universities leaped by 15.5 percent....
Editorial: Street-Level Help for Big Projects (Pioneer Press 11/3/09)
We welcome two private foundation efforts in our community that could pay large dividends down the road.
The Central Corridor Funders Collaborative is an effort by a group of state and national foundations that will work on street-level problems the Central Corridor light-rail project will create. The group's admirable goal is that neighborhoods, residents and businesses along the line share in the benefits of this huge infrastructure investment....
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