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Public schools shouldn't be dependent on the whims of philanthropic billionaires. They should be supported by the state. It goes against everything they were se

Public schools shouldn't be dependent on the whims of philanthropic billionaires. They should be supported by the state. It goes against everything they were set up as.

yesenadam 8y ago
Is anyone arguing that "Public schools should be dependent on the whims of philanthropic billionaires"?
- 1123581321 8y ago
  If you follow the chain you replied to, born_a_beetle is saying that a consequence of such a donation to a state school would be a dependence on Bloomberg that is inappriate for public education. It’s clear that he or she is concerned about that as an unintended consequence of such a donation. No one is advocating for the unintended consequence to happen, but they are arguing for a course of action that born_a_beetle believes will have the negative consequence. There’s a good article on unintended consequences here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_consequences https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_consequences A lot of debate in philanthropy policy deals with these, so it’s important to understand how someone can disagree with something no one has explicitly advocated for, but could happen if the advocated course is taken.
  - yesenadam 8y ago
    Thank you, very well put. (I really should've stayed out of this issue about which I know nothing.) Sure, I get that it might have undesirable consequences, like creating a harmful habit or addiction, but also 'such a donation to a state school' would mean (obviously) a relatively poor school gets a lot of money, which seems to me a good thing. No?! It almost seems like people are saying....that all mega-donations should go to schools that already have lots of money. Which does seem going overboard a bit.
    - 1123581321 8y ago
      Yes, I do agree that state schools also need alum support. The large public universities I’m familiar with have plenty of buildings named after wealthy people and are facing budget crises that affect affordability, so they could use more money. I could see trouble if a state school doesn’t effectively manage endowments and receives too much money to handle, but as long as proper governance exists elsewhere, I don’t see how concentrated donor influence could hurt the school more than the money would help, even if the money weren’t allocated as well as it could’ve been.

Public schools shouldn't be dependent on the whims of philanthropic billionaires. They should be supported by the state. It goes against everything they were set up as.

yesenadam 8y ago

Is anyone arguing that "Public schools should be dependent on the whims of philanthropic billionaires"?

1123581321 8y ago
If you follow the chain you replied to, born_a_beetle is saying that a consequence of such a donation to a state school would be a dependence on Bloomberg that is inappriate for public education. It’s clear that he or she is concerned about that as an unintended consequence of such a donation. No one is advocating for the unintended consequence to happen, but they are arguing for a course of action that born_a_beetle believes will have the negative consequence. There’s a good article on unintended consequences here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_consequences https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_consequences A lot of debate in philanthropy policy deals with these, so it’s important to understand how someone can disagree with something no one has explicitly advocated for, but could happen if the advocated course is taken.
- yesenadam 8y ago
  Thank you, very well put. (I really should've stayed out of this issue about which I know nothing.) Sure, I get that it might have undesirable consequences, like creating a harmful habit or addiction, but also 'such a donation to a state school' would mean (obviously) a relatively poor school gets a lot of money, which seems to me a good thing. No?! It almost seems like people are saying....that all mega-donations should go to schools that already have lots of money. Which does seem going overboard a bit.
  - 1123581321 8y ago
    Yes, I do agree that state schools also need alum support. The large public universities I’m familiar with have plenty of buildings named after wealthy people and are facing budget crises that affect affordability, so they could use more money. I could see trouble if a state school doesn’t effectively manage endowments and receives too much money to handle, but as long as proper governance exists elsewhere, I don’t see how concentrated donor influence could hurt the school more than the money would help, even if the money weren’t allocated as well as it could’ve been.