'Teach Plus' group that sponsored Michelle Rhee in Chicago is just another well financed front for the Gates foundation, Teach for America, and 'venture philanthropy'
After the group that sponsored Michelle Rhee's brief foray into Chicago on December 8 made the effort to exclude me (and, if seems, veteran teachers who disagree with them), I wrote protesting their decision (but didn't try to crash the Michelle Rhee event) to TeachPlus Chicago leader Amy Treadwell, who claims she got her start in teacher mentoring by become a National Board Certified Teacher courtesy of the Chicago Teachers Union's QUEST Center.
The answer was that the mission of TeachPlus is to engage teachers in the early years of their career, and that they regret excluding other "stakeholders."
A look at the funders and directors for TeachPlus, however, indicates that their mission (which includes merit pay) is similar to most of the other "astro turf" groups being created by the people Diane Ravitch called the "Billionaire Boys Club" to undermine public education and teacher unions.
Below is a list of the "Advisory Committee Members" of TeachPlus from their Website as of December 15, 2010:
Advisory Committee Members
Margaret Boasberg, The Bridgespan Group
Stacey Childress, Harvard Business School
Rachel Curtis, Human Capital Strategies for Urban Schools
Ben Fenton, New Leaders for New Schools
Ethan Gray, The Mind Trust
Ellen Guiney, Boston Plan for Excellence
Amanda Hillman, Teach for America
Joanna Jacobson, Strategic Grant Partners
Jason Kamras, District of Columbia Public Schools
Sandra Licon, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
John Luczak, Joyce Foundation
Julie Mikuta, New Schools Venture Fund
Talia Milgrom-Elcott, Carnegie Corporation
Lynn Olson, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Elizabeth Pauley, The Boston Foundation
Ari Rozman, The New Teacher Project
Cara Delzer Stadlin, New Schools Venture Fund
Mary Wells, Connect the Dots
