HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY: During the last week of May, a letter from Sue Desmond-Hellman, CEO of The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, stirred a buzz across digital landscape. In a tone that this LA Times editorial described as “unmistakably chastened,” Desmond-Hellman admits to the Foundation’s stumbles over the last few years, including a potentially hasty rollout of Common Core. “Unfortunately, our foundation underestimated the level of resources and support required for our public education systems to be well-equipped to implement the standards,” she wrote. Desmond-Hellman goes on to say that the Foundation missed “an early opportunity to sufficiently engage educators—particularly teachers—but also parents and communities, so that the benefits of the standards could take flight from the beginning.” See most of the transcript of the letter here.
