Bill Gates Influence On Education

On February 26th, Bill Gates gave a speech to governors, policy makers, and business leaders from across the nation to discuss the problems with education. During that speech, Bill Gates gave a keynote address where he called American public schools "obsolete." This statement made by one of the most powerful and influential men in the world could destroy the education systems of the United States let alone destroy the education systems of the world.

Gates has spent almost a billion dollars influencing American public schools, and while his donations seem admirable on some fronts, especially in an era of increased federal demands coupled with reduced federal spending, his generosity remains problematic. When corporate leaders shape government institutions according to their needs, we move away from democracy and toward corporatism, a relative of, and arguably a indicator to, fascism. While this essay is no place for a complete analysis of American democracy and fascism, I believe a compelling case
Arguably, the best way to improve citizenship is to send children out into the community as citizens. They might, for example, identify a pressing issue in the neighborhood surrounding their school and act collectively to change it. This, of course, is not the type of education Gates and other business leaders are after, as they need number crunchers whipped into shape by the conventionally raised bar. As American children grow fatter, schools nationwide are eliminating recess, all in the name of spending more time on task. Arts programs, despite repeated studies linking them to more flourishing definitions of "intelligent," are gone as well, and classes which might lead to greater intelligence on the part of our society, think "logic and reasoning" or "identifying propaganda," must be pushed aside for test prep