The Successful Failure of ED in ’08 by Alexander Russo

FUTURE OF AMERICAN EDUCATION PROJECT

The Successful Failure of ED in ’08 By Alexander Russo

June 2012 The Future of American Education Paper Series is edited and overseen by Frederick M. Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Papers in this series focusing on higher education topics are edited by Andrew P. Kelly, research fellow for education policy studies. The series, which is part of the Future of American Education Project, is a publishing platform for original scholarship in all areas of education reform. It includes contributions from university-based academics as well as on-the-ground school reformers and entrepreneurs. The views and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the American Enterprise Institute.

Scholars interested in submitting to the series should contact Daniel Lautzenheiser for additional information at [email protected] or 202.862.5843.

Publications in the Future of American Education Paper Series: • Facilities Financing: Monetizing Education’s Untapped Resource by Himanshu Kothari • Linking Costs and Postsecondary Degrees: Key Issues for Policymakers by Nate Johnson • Opportunities for Efficiency and Innovation: A Primer on How to Cut College Costs by Vance H. Fried • Something Has Got to Change: Rethinking Special Education by Nate Levenson • Shifting Risk to Create Opportunity: A Role for Performance Guarantees in Education by Bryan Hassel and Daniela Doyle • The Attrition Tradition in American Higher Education: Connecting Past and Present by John R. Thelin • “But the Pension Fund Was Just Sitting There…”: The Politics of Teacher Retirement Plans by Frederick M. Hess and Juliet P. Squire • “Diverse Providers” in Action: Lessons Learned from School Restructuring in Hawaii by Frederick M. Hess and Juliet P. Squire • Private Capital and Public Education: Toward Quality at Scale by Tom Vander Ark, Revolution Learning • Professors on the Production Line, Students on Their Own by Mark Bauerlein, Emory University • Success at Scale in Charter Schooling by Steven F. Wilson, Ascend Learning, Inc. • Education Policy, Academic Research, and Public Opinion by William G. Howell, University of Chicago

Foreword

oday, the school reform firmament includes a • Acceptable Activity: ED in ’08 showed funders and Twealth of groups working to rethink and reimag - nonprofit grantees that a nonprofit could be ine schooling. These include policy actors ranging involved in serious policy and advocacy work and from the federal Department of Education to state that such work is worth doing. education agencies to local superintendents, as well as parent groups, teachers unions, researchers, and • Creating State and Local Networks: Partly in philanthropists. The latter group, in particular, often response to the challenges faced by ED in ’08, has an outsized influence by virtue of their ability to many new advocacy groups are being set up as use dollars to drive particular school reforms, win networks of semi-autonomous state-level organi - votes for legislation, or sponsor new research. As zations with somewhat fluid agendas that can such, large foundations such as the Bill & Melinda adapt their efforts to suit local dynamics. Gates Foundation, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foun - dation, and the Ford Foundation have been in the • Too Combative, Too Collaborative: If ED in ’08 national spotlight surrounding school reform con - was at times exceedingly cautious in its tactics versations. Given that, it’s important to understand and messaging, some of the initiatives launched the history and nature of philanthropic investment in in its aftermath have been overly aggressive, made K–12 education and lessons that can guide advocacy inaccurate or misleading claims, and chosen par - groups going forward. ticularly controversial priorities regarding teach - In “The Successful Failure of ED in ’08,” veteran ers and teachers unions. Ultimately, there is a education journalist Alexander Russo attempts to do balance between the two. just that. What I find fascinating about Russo’s piece is its hard and thoughtful look at one of the most One of my guiding principles in studying educa - prominent philanthropic initiatives of the past tion is that much can be learned from policy analy - decade—the Education in 2008 effort by the Gates sis, history, and field inquiry, as well as by looking and Broad Foundations to make education a focal at numbers and performance metrics. I think this is point of the 2008 election. That initiative’s successes a terrific example of making sure we are learning and stumbles have informed the strategy of future from big, important initiatives and capturing both groups like Democrats for Education Reform, lessons and insights. For further information on the 50CAN, and Stand. Russo argues effectively that on paper, contact Russo at [email protected]. the whole, the effort did not have much of an imme - For additional information on the activities of AEI’s diate impact, yet it has had a much more significant Education Policy program, please visit www.aei.org/ legacy than is often acknowledged when it comes to policy/ education/ or contact Daniel Lautzenheiser at current issues like the Common Core State Standards [email protected]. and teacher evaluation. In particular, Russo pinpoints a few lessons —Frederick M. Hess learned from ED in ’08 worth paying attention to in Director, Education Policy Studies the 2012 election year. Among them: American Enterprise Institute

iii About the Author

Alexander Russo is a writer, blogger, and author charter schools to rescue a broken Los Angeles high who has been published or quoted in Slate, T he Wash - school. Russo was a 2009 Spencer Education Journal - ington Monthly , Washington Post, Huffington Post, New ism Fellow at Columbia University. Before he began York Times , and USA Today . His school reform web - writing, he served as an education adviser to US sena - site, “This Week in Education,” is one of the nation’s tors and the chancellor of the New York City public earliest and most popular education blogs. His 2011 schools, and as a high school English teacher. A version book, Stray Dogs, Saints, and Saviors (Jossey-Bass ), of this paper will appear as part of Russo’s next book, chronicled the attempt by a network of unionized School of Politics .

iv The Successful Failure of ED in ’08

n January 15, 2012, veteran education pushed by ED in ’08 in several key regards. And, as Oresearcher Craig Jerald was feeling a little frus - Jerald noted, the 2012 campaign has been thus far trated by the lack of discussion about education in devoid of much substantive discussion about educa - the Republican primary debates. So he logged into tion reform. his Twitter account to vent to his four hundred– Was ED in ’08 a complete and utter failure, then, plus followers: “Presidential debate moderators or the underappreciated prototype for what has have mostly ignored education. Anyone miss ED become a widespread approach to promoting school in ’08 now???” reform and the hidden influence over the Obama ED in ’08 (Education in 2008) was an effort to education agenda? “At the time, it seemed irrelevant,” make education a big part of the 2008 presidential said Diane Ravitch, the New York University educa - campaign—to make the candidates take education tion historian and a prominent critic of current reform seriously and talk about it during debates and on the ideas. “Though in retrospect it may have set the campaign stump. Jerald had poured his heart into groundwork. Little did we know.” 2 the effort. Four years later, most others remembered it as a costly failure, if they remembered it at all. Indeed, it didn’t take long for longtime think- A Fast, Hot Start tanker Andy (“Eduwonk”) Rotherham to respond to Jerald’s tweet: “OK, but what’s a good price per ques - It was hot even by South Carolina standards outside tion? Those were expensive,” he asked, referring to the the Edventure Children’s Museum in Columbia just mere twenty education-related questions that mod- after lunchtime on April 25, 2007. A hundred kids erators had asked the candidates in 2007 and 2008. stood in the large parking lot, unshaded from the sun. ED in ’08 was the largest single-issue advocacy A big yellow school bus served as a backdrop. U2’s campaign in the history of education reform. 1 But song “Beautiful Day” blared from speakers. A handful the initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates of veteran campaign reporters, including Hotline’s and Eli and Edythe Broad Foundations, was shut - Marc Ambinder and Newsweek ’s Howard Fineman, tered after just sixteen months and written off by out - were in attendance. At the podium stood current and side observers and the funders themselves. former elected officials—mayors, governors, and state Heading into the 2012 campaign season, no one superintendents among them—and representatives gave any serious thought to repeating the experi - from the Seattle-based Gates Foundation. ment. “We have no plans for another such effort,” Off to the side of the crowd, thirty-seven-year-old Broad Foundation policy director Gregory McGinity Jerald tried to keep an eye both on the speakers and said in a September 7, 2011, e-mail interview. the audience. The newly hired ED in ’08 policy direc - And yet, education advocacy organizations very tor was worrying both that the assembled VIPs might much like ED in ’08 have proliferated in the years not have enough water and that he might be sweat - following the 2008 elections, as has philanthropic ing through his suit. He was also listening carefully support for political advocacy. The Obama adminis - to the speeches, formulating the feedback he would tration’s education priorities have resembled those give afterward.

1 FUTURE OF AMERICAN EDUCATION PROJECT

The event was the kickoff for the $60 million ini - Democrats was former First Lady and New York tiative to ensure the public was engaged on educa - Senator Hillary Clinton, though a lot of voters tion issues and that the next occupant of the White seemed to like the charismatic, young former senator House was committed to making public education John Edwards. Barack Obama was not yet more than better in America. Led by an all-star team of political a blip on most people’s radars. operatives, the initiative would make the case that education was as important as health care reform, the economy, or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Funders Finally Getting Their Hands Dirty “Right now [education] is too low on the list of pri - orities for all the candidates,” said billionaire Eli Broad ED in ’08 was far from the first time that philanthro - in the New York Times coverage of the event, “and our pists and advocacy organizations had joined forces to job is to get it up on the list.” 3 In the same article, Bill influence politics at the national level. Foundation- Gates echoed the sentiment: “The lack of political and funded health care reform and environmental organ - public will is a significant barrier to making dramatic izations had followed a similar script for years, as had improvements in school and student performance.” a smattering of reproductive rights and gun rights Neither Gates nor Broad attended the kickoff event. advocates. Indeed, some other issue-oriented advo - If it worked, ED in ’08 would influence the course cacy efforts were already trying to foist their agendas of education reform nationwide for years to come. It onto the 2008 campaign, including Divided We Fail was nothing less than an audacious mission to (which advocated for health care reform). From soup change people’s thinking about education. kitchens to AIDS eradication programs to arts organ - izations, other nonprofits and foundations were ED in ’08 was nothing less than an clamoring for increased political attention, too. They asked candidates to sign pledges, pressured them to audacious mission to change people’s meet with advocates or talk about their issues in thinking about education. speeches and debates, and threatened to protest against candidates who failed to respond. 4 Still, Gates and Broad’s grand plan represented And Jerald was going to be a big part of it. After a somewhat uncharted waters for education reformers, stint with Teach for America, he had worked as a who had previously preferred to avoid the dirty busi - journalist covering education issues, then taken a job ness of political advocacy. For years, reformers had doing research and advocacy at a Washington think hoped that good intentions, hard work, great ideas, tank. Husky and pink-skinned, he was excited, nerv - and massive-sounding amounts of private money ous, and already feeling exhausted by all the prepa - would do the trick. For years, they had been told that rations that had gone into getting this new education was “bipartisan,” which many confused to organization off the ground. mean “nonpartisan.” But this was far from the truth. It was the night before the first Democratic presi - Touching on core issues of parenting, knowledge, dential debate of the 2008 campaign season. A week and the role of government in society, education was later, the ED in ’08 team would be in Simi Valley, Cal - the opposite of nonpartisan and rarely as bipartisan ifornia, for the first Republican debate. In eighteen as some may have thought. months a new face—Democrat or Republican— Now Gates and Broad knew they were going to would be in the White House. Former Massachusetts have to engage more directly with the school systems governor Mitt Romney and Arizona senator John they hoped to change, by either influencing the McCain were considered front-runners on the elected officials and policymakers who ran them or Republican side; the overwhelming favorite for the getting their own people seats at the tables where the

2 Alexander Russo THE SUCCESSFUL FAILURE OF ED IN ’08 systemwide decisions were being made. And to do so, Since then, by and large, politicians seemed unwill - they were going to have to generate media attention ing or unable to push for changes in education laws and elbow their way into the game. Workarounds, on their own, and the public seemed ambivalent playing nice, and coming up with good ideas and pro - about the need for action. grams were not going to be enough. The behind-the-scenes discussion about whether Gates and Broad had first tried their hand at edu - reformers needed to be more political-minded had cation advocacy with a 2006 public service campaign been bubbling up for several years. The Thomas B. with the motto “Stand up for education.” The effort Fordham Foundation (now Institute) raised the issue was launched on the Oprah Winfrey Show , featured in its 2000 case studies on the $500 million Annen - Lance Armstrong–style rubber bracelets, and was berg Challenge. 6 The issue was debated further by Var - described on its website as “a national campaign that tan Gregorian and others in Philanthropy magazine. 7 seeks to positively impact the current crisis within the For some reformers, this new way of thinking United States public education system by calling upon crystallized at a 2005 conference sponsored by the community leaders, parents, students and citizens to American Enterprise Institute (AEI) that included encourage change and STAND UP for better schools several foundation officers, such as Gates’s Stefanie and the future of America’s children.” The Gates Foun - Sanford. The conference papers were published the dation was also coming off a global health advocacy following year in the volume With the Best of Inten - campaign called ONE that it felt was effective at tions .8 For others, the turning point was “Class Strug - generating both public attention and policy changes. gle,” a scathing June 2005 cover story in the New What convinced the two foundations to join Republic written by former Edwards and Kerry cam - together was the realization that the many programs paign staffer Robert Gordon. “While [innovative] they had funded over the last decade might have proposals thrive in think-tank hothouses, they been helpful here and there but were not nearly big wither in the heat of Democratic politics,” wrote Gor - enough to make an overall difference. The American don. 9 Bill Gates’s 2005 speech to the nation’s gover - education system was a $600 billion per year behe - nors about high school being “obsolete” was another moth, serving more than 50 million kids in elemen - oft-cited transition point, a signal that Gates and oth - tary and secondary education alone. ers were no longer content to fund programs and “Almost all serious philanthropists eventually merely hope they would be adopted. come to a sad realization,” wrote the Wall Street Jour - The sole discussion of education during the 2004 nal ’s Robert Frank. “Their money is a drop in the general election debates was a disappointingly simplis - bucket compared with government spending.” 5 tic exchange about federal funding for education. Dem - Pushing an idea into the public debate or, even bet - ocratic candidate John Kerry criticized President ter, getting a friendly candidate elected to office could George W. Bush for underfunding NCLB by $28 bil - have much more of an effect than any imaginable lion, a reference to lofty funding levels promised in the donation of goods or services. 2002 law. Bush responded, “Only a liberal senator from The two billionaire funders were also intensely Massachusetts would say that a 49 percent increase in aware of the fact that efforts to improve public educa - funding for education was not enough.” 10 That was it. tion seemed to have dropped off the national political radar in the years since 2001, when lawmakers on both A Mix of Curiosity and Scorn sides of the aisle joined to pass No Child Left Behind. While the 2000 elections were messy and con - With ED in ’08, Gates and Broad had come up with tentious, they had included relatively substantial dis - an ambitious—grandiose, even—plan of attack. Cre - cussion of education issues and resulted in a ated from scratch, ED in ’08 would have 125 staffers bipartisan push to revamp federal education policy. and consultants spread across the country. 11 In its

3 FUTURE OF AMERICAN EDUCATION PROJECT projected size, it would dwarf the $22.4 million that Setting Up a Campaign the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth group had spent against Kerry in 2004 and the $7.8 million spent on The ED in ’08 team set up headquarters in Washing - advocacy that year by AARP. 12 It would exceed even ton, D.C., near Dupont Circle, a few blocks away the $40 million allocated by the National Education from the Gates Foundation’s Washington offices. Association (NEA), the nation’s largest teachers Longtime Republican operative Marc Lampkin union, for the 2008 cycle. signed on as the executive director. The African Amer - “If we are talking about efforts in presidential cam - ican conservative had been the deputy campaign man - paigns to promote discussion or debate of an issue, ager for Bush’s 2000 campaign, during which there has been nothing like this,” said Bill Hogan, a education had been a major issue. Lampkin had a senior fellow at the Center for Public Integrity, a few long-running interest in the issue and loved a good days after the initiative’s announcement. 13 “This challenge. He was everyone’s first choice for the job. would be off the charts.” Arthur Levine, president White-haired former Democratic National Com - emeritus of the Teachers College at Columbia Univer - mittee chair Roy Romer was picked to be the chair - sity, hailed it as “the most important philanthropic man and spokesperson for the organization. A investment in education in years.” 14 former Colorado governor with a long track record At the time, few noticed what an unlikely pair the on education issues, Romer had just finished a stint two foundations were, stylistically and substantively. as superintendent of the Los Angeles public schools. An early Hillary Clinton supporter, Broad was active Lampkin knew how campaigns worked, and in Democratic politics and his foundation was small Romer knew how candidates thought. The heavy - and tightly focused. Gates gave to both Democrats weight advisory board was balanced carefully and Republicans, and his foundation was notori - between Democrats and Republicans. Jerald was ously large and slow moving. All attention was the policy expert—a wonk’s wonk, knowledgeable, focused on the eye-popping $60 million and the careful, hard-working, detail-oriented, and exceed - unprecedented idea of two of the nation’s biggest ingly courteous. The communications chief was education foundations weighing in to try and influ - Shannon Murphy, the blunt veteran of Los Angeles ence the focus of the election. mayoral politics and former aide to Romer. In addi - There was tremendous curiosity about what was tion, the team had access to some of the best cam - going to be attempted—as well as a fair amount of paign consultants in the business, including concern about who was funding it. “A revolution in Republican pollster Frank Luntz and campaign American education isn’t going to come from two bil - consultant Todd Harris. lionaires who’ve lived off a profoundly flawed global Officially branded with the vague moniker “Strong economic system that creates great class chasms and American Schools,” the effort quickly became known unnecessary cultural strife,” wrote the editors of the by its shorter, catchier name. Gates and Broad left-leaning journal Rethinking Schools .15 decided that ED in ’08 would push three main ideas: The Columbia kickoff was covered on Good Morn - high and uniform academic standards across the ing America , NPR’s On Point , and MTV and in most of country, longer school days and years for American the major national newspapers. But a front-page brief kids (often referred to as “extended learning”), and in the New York Times was not enough for some of encouraging teacher effectiveness through incentive those who were paying the bills. “Somehow that pay and other “performance-based” innovations. wasn’t good enough,” said a person familiar with the Just as important was what ED in ’08—organized communication between the foundations and the as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit—would not do. initiative who asked not to be named. “They wanted Posted on every e-mail and piece of paper it sent out the launch to be even bigger than it was.” 16 was the reminder that the initiative did not “support

4 Alexander Russo THE SUCCESSFUL FAILURE OF ED IN ’08 or oppose any candidate for public office [or] take make better. But there was something new and excit - positions on legislation.” 17 ing about it nonetheless. Heading this team of young idealists, Lampkin was often impatient but never tyrannical. He was usu - A “Surround Sound” Effort ally rallying his staff to get more done, and faster. One of his staff compared him to the fictional Jonah Jame - Throughout the spring and summer of 2007, ED in son, boss of newspaper reporter Peter Parker (a.k.a. ’08 was everywhere the candidates and cameras Spiderman). “Nail this, move on,” he liked to say. were—at Washington press events or in the field in Though he was an extremely experienced politi - early-action states like Iowa, New Hampshire, and cal operative, Romer also brought a hefty dose of pas - South Carolina. They showed up in force at campaign sion for schools. He loved to talk about education events and town halls. They organized their own and was much more interested in policy details than hourlong candidate forums and events, cosponsored most elected officials. He spoke like a whirlwind and with MTV. They coordinated a half-hour Democratic had more energy than most twenty-five-year-olds. debate on education on the Charlie Rose show. They He was so relaxed about public speaking that he got top-tier political pundits from the Washington Post , made a casual stop at a nearby John Deere dealership Fox News, and NPR to discuss the role of education on his way to the big South Carolina kickoff event. in the campaign. Kanye West taped a promo for Everybody there wanted to make a difference. them. This was the public “outside” half of ED in ’08’s Everyone hoped that they would be able to move the two-pronged strategy. Lampkin called their media- needle. They knew that the initiative’s goals were mongering a “surround sound” effort. Another called simultaneously ambitious and painfully vague. But it a “national infomercial.” they prided themselves on never giving up and being Working for ED in ’08 meant a heady mix of pol - able to find new angles when circumstances icy, politics, big-name foundations, and barnstorming changed. They would work hard, do their best, and around the country. The relatively young staffers— deal with whatever came up. Earnest and shiny, new some of them Teach for America alumni—got to in town, and well-funded, they might as well have attend debates and meet or exchange e-mails with put a sign on their backs that said, “Kick me.” many of the top education policy experts in the coun - try (including campaign staff). They traveled together and had dinner after events. Debate Mentions They were working on real campaign issues and talking to real campaign staffers and big-name The primary debates held throughout the summer reporters. “We would put out something and then see and fall of 2007 were critical moments for ED in ’08 it in campaign talking points the next week,” said one to make its mark. For an hour or two, everyone young staffer. interested in national politics was paying attention to “It was a pretty neat gig,” said another member of the same thing. the policy team, Adam Thibault. “You felt like you In the days and hours leading up to each debate, were in the middle of something important.” the ED in ’08 team barraged the political directors at It felt like they were working at a cool start-up like the broadcast news stations, pushing for an educa - Facebook or Google—a place that might just revolu - tion-related debate question or follow-up. tionize the way American schools worked. They were A lengthy September 21, 2007, e-mail to the cam - in the fray, playing with the big boys. Politics might paigns reminded them that the moderator for the be superficial and ugly sometimes and feel a long next debate, NBC’s Tim Russert, was interested in the way away from the inner-city schools they wanted to dropout crisis, announced the creation of a Nevada

5 FUTURE OF AMERICAN EDUCATION PROJECT field office, shared pictures from Senator Tom Unprepared candidates tended to dodge and weave Harkin’s annual Harkin Steak Fry in Iowa, and cited or revert back to simplistic and safe positions. statistics showing education was an important issue “They have nice bumper stickers and pins,” to the public. quipped NEA executive director John Wilson about They were far from alone, noted Ambinder: ED in ’08. “They try to get their logo in pictures.” 20 “Environmental groups want the candidates to talk After a while, the NEA stopped bothering to send about global warming. The League of Conservation people to monitor ED in ’08 events. Union watchdog Voters’s South Carolina state branch has urged NBC Mike Antonucci went the entire campaign without producers to ask a question about climate change ever writing about the initiative. tomorrow night. A separate education reform con - But a few people both seemed to think ED in ’08 sortium made up of mostly liberal interests released was doing a good job and were willing to say so in a South Carolina poll earlier this week.” 18 public. In January 2008, Edwards deputy campaign Having done all they could, they would then manager Jonathan Price described ED in ’08 as “a watch intently, hoping that someone would ask an strong presence out there in the field in the key pri - education question or that a candidate would bring mary states,” crediting them with taking “a very the topic up, cheering and e-mailing each other with smart approach.” 21 each mention of American schools. There were small successes nearly from the start. NBC News’s Brian Williams and Univision’s Jorge A Chance Opening with the Obama Campaign Ramos asked questions that ED in ’08 felt they had helped prompt. 19 In July, CNN and YouTube joined It was hot and stuffy the day in August when Romer to host a Democratic debate in Charleston, South and Jerald first met with the Obama campaign policy Carolina, and education was the top category for the team in its offices on Massachusetts Avenue, a row video submissions. An ED in ’08 staffer’s former stu - house a couple of doors down from the conservative dent had an education question aired on national tel - Heritage Foundation. Domestic policy adviser evision before the debate. Heather Higginbottom led the meeting. 22 Obama’s A debate mention “seems like such a small thing Senate education aide, Steve Robinson, was there for to anyone outside the business,” admitted communi - part of the time. cations associate Rachael Brown. “But it’s so impor - Making connections to the various campaigns was tant.” Getting education mentioned at all, much less the “inside” half of ED in ’08’s strategy. Candidates one of the effort’s specific priorities, was an important always needed responses to questions and new sign of progress for ED in ’08, even if it went unno - things to say. They got ideas from all sorts of places— ticed by the mainstream press or seemed to lack their staff, think tanks and research reports, things importance to other education insiders. people said to them on the campaign trail or during But some did not think so highly of ED in ’08 or town hall meetings, their life experiences, reporters’ gave credit only begrudgingly and behind the scenes questions during interviews, and things donors and to this oversized education reform newcomer. And supporters talked about. ED in ’08 hoped to position the initiative’s efforts were not always successful. itself as a discreet, honest broker that could provide There were so many candidates to get to. Education reliable policy information on an issue that might did not even warrant a mention at several of the soon become important. seemingly innumerable primary debates. At others, These meetings were essential to the success of their questions were limited to softball issues like “Who efforts—or so Lampkin, Romer, and Jerald thought. was your favorite teacher?” Uninformed moderators “That was the brass ring,” said Lampkin about the tended not to ask education-related questions. importance of communicating with campaign staff. “It’s

6 Alexander Russo THE SUCCESSFUL FAILURE OF ED IN ’08 not about where you stand in the polls,” he said. “It’s weeks and months following, Romer and Jerald did about whether the candidates, and the next president, their best to show Higginbottom how important high, are adopting the right policies.” 23 uniform standards were and how well they polled “We were helping to shape their minds,” added among voters. The junior senator from Illinois tried to Romer. “We were helping them avoid some really maintain a delicate balance between proposing ideas dangerous directions that they could have gone.” that might help make schools better and offending Gaining access to the campaigns was no easy task, teachers, many of whom had—at least initially— however. Candidates kept hectic schedules, and supported Senator Clinton. His team did not want to campaigns often operated without much long-term retreat into platitudes, but their candidate was planning. They tended to be insular operations, equally determined not to “poke anyone in the eye,” tightly defended against the swarms of media outlets according to a source familiar with the campaign and advocacy groups vying for access. They usually who did not want to be named. National standards had just one or two people covering the whole gamut fit in nicely. of public policy issues—from foreign affairs to agri - cultural policy—along with a part-time outside advi - The Obama team’s curiosity about sory committee for each major area. Lengthy policy national standards, however vague deliberations were a luxury campaigns could not afford. Even once they agreed to a meeting, campaign at the start, was a big opportunity staff usually just listened, took some notes or leafed for ED in ’08. through handouts. “This is interesting,” they would say. “Thanks for the information. Give us some time; we’re just getting off the ground.” A few weeks later, when Obama aired an ad The meeting with the Obama staff was somewhat focused on education, Jerald was excited. “A major different. Higginbottom had started out as an advocate candidate airing an education ad!” he wrote in an e- for an education group called Cities in Schools. Her mail to the author. “Word is that he will be making candidate was familiar with the issues, having been a his big, long-awaited education speech soon too.” community organizer in Chicago and serving on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee in the US Senate with oversight for education issues. One Hand Tied behind Its Back During that first meeting, it came out that neither Obama nor any of his team had done much on the Eventually, the ED in ’08 team was able to meet with issue of national standards, which would eventually all the major campaigns and to forge relationships come to be called the Common Core. The basic idea with some. Mitt Romney’s domestic policy adviser, of setting high uniform standards was not new—a sys - Lanhee Chen, “became a big consumer of our materi - tem with fifteen thousand local school districts and als,” according to Jerald. The Edwards staff liked ED fifty different sets of state standards was notoriously in ’08’s materials enough to have their boss cite one of uneven. But it had not been pushed very hard since its report in his education plan. Still, time was increas - President Bill Clinton proposed voluntary national ingly short. By fall of 2007, the pressure was on to tests more than a decade before, in 1997. Politically make an impact as quickly as possible, before the pol - speaking, it was a policy idea gathering dust. icy window closed and “pure” politics took over. The Obama team’s curiosity about national stan - It made things no easier that ED in ’08 was dards, however vague at the start, was a big oppor - required to operate within tight constraints. Cam - tunity for ED in ’08, an opening that only grew paign staffers and journalists alike worked hard to bigger as Obama’s campaign gained steam. In the avoid any impression that they were influenced by

7 FUTURE OF AMERICAN EDUCATION PROJECT advocates and would shut access off if they had any November 2007 through September 2008. There concerns about credit or confidentiality. So the group was pushback against the idea of creating a Facebook was limited in what it could say about its behind-the- page or using social media to bolster attendance at scenes efforts. The other, even more restrictive, aspect events, according to Wolly. “There was a lot of con - was the foundations’ insistence on a conservative cern about getting Gates in trouble on social media.” interpretation of what 501(c)(3) organizations were The result was grinding internal deliberation over legally allowed to do in the political arena. what seemed like every possible move ED in ’08 Under federal law, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) could gen - wanted to make. Blog posts and public statements erate research or make general statements in favor of had to go out for review. A day or two later they an issue but could theoretically lose its nonprofit sta - would come back with edits striking language that tus if it used funds for explicitly political activities the lawyers thought might go too far or indicate such as endorsing candidates or specific legislative some preference for one candidate over another. proposals. Not everyone took this seriously; some Often, the answer from the lawyers was no. They education nonprofits and advocacy groups put out had heard Clinton wanted to be stronger on paying scorecards, asked candidates to sign pledges, had teachers based on performance than she had been thus members serving on campaign advisory committees, far. But ED in ’08 could not encourage her or call her and edited candidates’ speeches and platforms. 24 But out publicly. When Edwards—then a frontrunner— Gates and Broad, new to this kind of initiative, wor - quoted their work, they could not take credit or even ried that playing in the gray spaces could jeopardize acknowledge his campaign for taking education seri - their entire philanthropic portfolios, which made up ously. Jerald kept a record of the various campaigns’ billions in annual giving. They insisted that ED in ’08 education activity, a little black book of sorts, but ED steer clear of potential violations of the law. And it in ’08 was never allowed to use it as a scorecard. They was their money, after all. even had to be careful what kinds of signs and posters “There’s a big difference in what foundations can do they made. 26 in policy and advocacy and what they can do in poli - “The only kind of carrot we could offer was substan - tics,” said one Gates Foundation insider who asked tive research we had done: ‘Here’s a study you can cite,’” not to be named. “In politics, it’s way more restrictive.” said Jerald. “We couldn’t even say, ‘thank you.’” There was at least some validity to the founda - Of course, there were other ways of expanding tions’ concerns about being investigated for over - what ED in ’08 could do, some of which were already stepping their bounds. The IRS had issued being employed in other parts of the Gates Founda - twenty-six warnings in the 2006 election cycle and tion empire. ONE, Gates’s global health awareness investigated another sixty charities. 25 campaign, included an “action fund” with 501(c)(4) The result was one of the great ironies of ED in status, which allowed a broader set of political activ - ’08: The effort was headed by two political veterans ities (such as calling on the presidential candidates to and supposed to be run like a hard-charging politi - commit to funding for worldwide malaria reduction, cal campaign. It was operating in a fast-moving and even endorsing candidates). 27 campaign environment in which everyone was com - And other, even more direct legal mechanisms peting for the attention and trust of the campaigns. were available to education advocates who wanted to And yet it was organized and operated under rules ensure that their views were considered in the politi - meant to keep organizations away from politics and cal process. A relatively new education group called monitored by foundations desperate to avoid taking Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) was created any risks. at about the same time as ED in ’08 with not only a “ED in ’08 was a risk-averse organization,” said 501(c)(4) but also a political action committee (PAC) Brian Wolly, a web editor who worked there from that could give money directly to candidates. 28

8 Alexander Russo THE SUCCESSFUL FAILURE OF ED IN ’08

But neither of these options was available to ED in education reform could really catch on nationally,” ’08. A PAC was out of the question, and “there just said Broad’s McGinity. wasn’t enough internal buy-in” within the Gates Education was a big concern in public opinion Foundation to get sign-off on creating a 501(c)(4) for polls: 46 percent ranked it higher than housing, ED in ’08, said one person familiar with the internal taxes, immigration, or the environment. But in a deliberations. It “wasn’t necessary,” according to the nation as distracted and divided as America, some Broad Foundation’s managing director of policy, Gre - sort of “broad awakening” of the public may have gory McGinity, who oversaw ED in ’08 along with been beyond even the most well-funded short-term Gates’s Marie Groark and others. effort. And yet, despite repeated entreaties from As the campaign wore on, these self-imposed Lampkin and Romer, Broad and his staff were organizational limitations were increasingly apparent unyielding in their demands to push public aware - to those they worked with and who followed them. ness. They wanted what Lampkin would later “These foundations are not necessarily expert either describe as “Justin Bieber-like” Facebook numbers at policy development or at smart political advocacy,” and criticized the ED in ’08 team for spending too said an observer who asked not to be named. “The much and getting too little. structure of [ED in ’08] made it much harder.” “It was a constant barrage from the early going,” said Lampkin. “We’re making tremendous progress, and they’re talking about how many signs we’re buy - Conflicting Missions ing.” As the campaign wore on, Broad was increas - ingly critical. “You guys aren’t getting anywhere,” he Meanwhile, ED in ’08 had another, even bigger, told the team, according to Lampkin. problem: cofounder Broad did not seem to think that influencing the campaigns was all that worthwhile ‘ED in ’08 was a risk-averse and seemed increasingly reluctant to pay for some - organization.’ thing he did not think was working. From the start, Broad had been closely involved in the effort and tended toward sudden moves. He had According to staff, it did not help that Broad’s recruited Romer to help run the effort without favorite candidate, Hillary Clinton, was not cruising informing everyone ahead of time. Gates staff were to the nomination as easily as expected or that his surprised to find out that Broad was “running around favorite policy idea, “extended learning,” was the making offers” (as one former Gates staffer put it) but least popular of ED in ’08’s three main proposals. agreed that the campaign needed to have a political By September 2007, foundation officials were persona and that Romer would be a good fit for the already concerned. The education poll numbers job. Lampkin found out from a colleague after the were not high enough. The media hits were not decision had already been made. numerous enough. In October, the entire ED in ’08 For Broad, the main purpose of ED in ’08 had staff was called into the conference room for a meet - always been to make education a number-one issue ing that was part dressing-down, part pep talk. Allan with the public: the “outside” half of the organiza - Golston and another senior Gates Foundation official tion’s strategy. He went along with the behind-the- led the proceedings. On the surface, the Gates staffers scenes elements as a compromise, but those were not were trying to reassure the staff, talking about how ever his top priority. they believed in the mission and praising recent “We needed to be helping Americans at large— accomplishments. They talked about their vision for not just policymakers—broadly understand the the ED in ’08 campaign, and Lampkin and Romer extent and nature of the education crisis before gave a brief update. There was time for questions at

9 FUTURE OF AMERICAN EDUCATION PROJECT the end, but no one knew what to ask. Rumors were left. Soon after, several other young ED in ’08 staffers running rampant among staff about one or both of left, some for grad school, others to attend to their the foundations pulling funding out of the project. long-ignored personal lives. Many of the staff left the room uneasy. “It was clear we were on thin ice,” said one who was in the room. A Very Long Spring and Summer “What did I get myself into?” wondered another. That same day, Jerald was having one of the best The constant second-guessing was not all that days of his time on the campaign. He had finally unusual for the campaign veterans on the ED in ’08 scheduled a meeting with Senator Clinton’s elusive team; in pretty much every campaign there was policy advisers and had a conference call with Rudy someone—the candidate, the donors, the candidate’s Giuliani’s person. He returned to the office the next spouse—who griped incessantly. At least they did morning excited about what he had accomplished, not have to spend a lot of time raising money like on only to find his colleagues depressed and anxious, a traditional campaign. and finally allowed himself to acknowledge just how The same could be said about internal conflicts starkly his vision of what they were trying to do con - within ED in ’08 between the press, field, and policy trasted with that of ED in ’08’s funders—and just teams. E-mails were commonly copied to others. how exhausted he was. There was the occasional shouting match. (However, He was working eighty-hour weeks, making all some, like communications guru Doug Heye, did not sorts of tangible progress on the policy front, and yet think it was particularly conflict-filled or frustrating. “I Gates and Broad still seemed to think that the over - don’t remember any internal fiction,” he said. “The real all campaign was a failure. For the first time, Jerald challenge was how do you get a message through.”) gave serious thought to the possibility that he might But it was hard not to notice that they were not not make it to the end of the campaign. being given the autonomy or the funding they had Romer and others had long worried about Jerald’s been led to expect, or the access to Gates or Broad for health. He was enormously productive, but he was at events. (During the entire lifespan of the initiative, the office constantly and worried about everything. Gates did not appear at any ED in ’08 events or speak Their fears were soon realized. In the middle of out in support of it.) Sometimes it felt like whatever November, an exhausted Jerald resigned. His col - time they saved by not fundraising got used justify - leagues encouraged him to stay, not only because ing what they were doing. they liked him but also because he was such a hard In the following weeks and months, ED in ’08 worker. Golston even called from Seattle to try and enjoyed more successes, large and (mostly) small: talk him out of it. But it was clear to Jerald that he The night before the Iowa caucus in early January needed some rest. 2008, an ED in ’08 staffer asked Obama to hold up On his last day in the office, Jerald spoke to one an ED in ’08 T-shirt for a picture, which Obama did of Obama’s education advisers, who told him that ED with a broad smile. Later that month, ED in ’08 part - in ’08’s work had been helpful, on standards espe - nered with independent filmmaker Bob Compton cially. The Obama campaign sent them a draft of and began screening his documentary Two Million their education plan a few days before it went pub - Minutes , which tracked six students from three coun - lic, and a lot of its elements “sounded very close to tries and compared the quality and rigor of the edu - our verbiage,” said Thibault, Jerald’s eventual cation they were receiving. replacement. But for Jerald, at least, it was too late. A big package of stories came out in Time maga - Obama delivered his big education speech in Day - zine in February. ED in ’08 convened a May educa - ton, Ohio, on November 20, four days after Jerald tion bloggers’ summit in Washington, D.C., at which

10 Alexander Russo THE SUCCESSFUL FAILURE OF ED IN ’08 former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Lampkin suggested they buy ED in ’08 bumper writers from Politico and other mainstream outlets stickers. “I’ve never seen a bigger f****** waste of appeared—a relatively innovative idea at the time. 29 money in my life,” the advocate said. But whatever early effectiveness ED in ’08 had “We thought there would be thousands of people seemed to fade away as the primary season wound on the call, and there were probably tens of people,” down and the field narrowed. The final Republican said Lampkin. Halfway through the call, he hit the primary debate was held on January 30, 2008, and mute button on his phone, turned to a coworker, the last Democratic debate took place a few months and said, “This is a waste of my time.” later, on April 16, 2008. Just 3 percent of the ques - tions asked at thirty different debates had addressed ED in ’08 sometimes seemed from the education issues. A December 2007 Education Week story had already found “little evidence that the [ED outside like it was losing focus, lunging in ’08] campaign . . . is succeeding in giving educa - at random ideas rather than maintaining tion issues a high profile.” 30 None of the main cam - paigns were willing to give ED in ’08 public credit for a coherent game plan. influencing their candidates’ positions or level of interest in education, according to a February 2008 Washington Post story. 31 In the meantime, funding from Broad had begun They tried their hand at creating eye-catching ads. dwindling, according to Romer. “It was obvious that One, advocating more challenging and engaging they wanted to cut back. [Broad] didn’t want to put high schools, featured a teenaged student talking to the money in.” From the start, funding had been the camera; if he dropped out of high school, he said, divided into a series of tranches. The initiative did “I will steal your car.” There were multiple appear - not get funding if it did not meet successive targets. ances with newsmakers like Newt Gingrich, Al The idea was to replicate the energy and motivation Sharpton, and Tim Pawlenty and an extensive of a campaign and to preserve the foundations’ abil - process developing ads for the $10 million general ity to step out of the race. But the result was that from election buy. Hoping to engage the interest of general roughly January 2008 onward, ED in ’08’s leadership election voters, they added a new “pillar” about pub - really made plans only in two-week installments, lic school choice. never sure whether their next plans would be “We always had a plan, and we always executed,” approved or if the funding would be there. The said Lampkin. process was unsettling and disruptive for the It did not necessarily seem that way from the grantees, and in retrospect one of the foundation offi - outside, however. Pressed to keep active during the cers called it a bad idea. spring and summer of 2008, ED in ’08 sometimes At least once, according to ED in ’08 staff, Broad seemed from the outside like it was losing focus, threatened to pull his money out of the effort, only to lunging at random ideas rather than maintaining a be talked down at the last minute by the advisory coherent game plan. group, which included political heavyweights such as At one point, the group led a conference call for Bob Kerrey and Ken Melhlman. That is not how the Teach for America teachers and alumni that was Broad team remembered it. “We paid out the full “memorably horrible,” according to a veteran politi - budget for the campaign, and never withdrew funds,” cal advocate who was on the line. Lampkin seemed said McGinity, a Broad Foundation manager. unprepared, and the team did not have ideas for Other education reform groups, even natural (or could not say) anything about what it wanted allies, found ED in ’08 increasingly difficult to work politically minded TFA teachers and alumni to do. with as the campaign wore on. Under incredible

11 FUTURE OF AMERICAN EDUCATION PROJECT pressure to produce results, ED in ’08 was seen to be out that Rhee, unlike Obama, supported not only slow to respond, rigid in its focus, and quick to take public charter schools but also private school vouch - credit for even the smallest accomplishment. ers for students attending failing schools. “They liked to have conference calls with multiple The Obama-McCain exchange was a momentary staffers on their side, most of whom said very little,” high point. But it was too little, too late and might said someone who worked with them but did not not have mattered even if it had taken place much want his name used. “Their press people were pushy earlier on the political calendar. ED in ’08 was organ - and seemed to take credit for the sun rising each ized around a prefabricated and fixed set of talking morning. They needed to justify what they were points and priorities that, repeated ad nauseam, were doing with all that money.” intended to engage voters, create excitement, and “By the time of the conventions, there wasn’t generate political momentum. This left no room for much left over there,” said Joe Williams, the execu - adding or subtracting ideas or for responding to hot- tive director of DFER, whose group seemed like it button issues like vouchers, charter schools, or No was thriving even as ED in ’08 was struggling. Child Left Behind. With a restricted, fixed menu of The view from inside ED in ’08 was not any more issues, ED in ’08 was limited to playing the role of admiring. A lot of groups said they wanted to work “the dry goods salesmen of school reform,” said AEI’s with ED in ’08, according to Lampkin, only to turn out Rick Hess. In the context of a heated presidential to be little more than curiosity seekers, underminers, campaign, ED in ’08’s policy ideas seemed increas - or people just looking for a slice of the Gates and ingly bland and irrelevant. For middle-class voters, Broad money. 32 they lacked visceral appeal. As Election Day approached, the whispered cho - rus of criticisms about ED in ’08 finally took their Last-Minute Surge of Interest toll. A couple of weeks before Election Day, word leaked out that Gates and Broad were not going to After the summer conventions where McCain and continue funding the effort very much longer. “The Obama were picked to face off against each other in money that’s gone into it is the money that we think the general election, education-related discussion we need to get the job done,” said Gates Foundation unexpectedly surged. At the October 2 debate spokesperson Chris Williams. 33 There was not even between vice presidential nominees at Washington a formal announcement. The news came out in the University in St. Louis, Senator Joe Biden and Gov - Puget Sound Business Journal . ernor Sarah Palin actually brought up education on At a meeting a few weeks later, in his mild, their own, something nobody really expected at that scratchy voice, Gates himself would provide ED in point. At the October 15 Hofstra University debate, ’08’s epitaph: “Most of what we were causing people the last exchange of the last debate between the two to do was to mouth platitudes.” 34 presidential nominees, Obama and McCain engaged In the end Gates and Broad would spend only in what passed for their only extended, substantive about $25 million. The Broad Foundation con - discussion of education policy. tributed less than $10 million—roughly the same Obama tried to emphasize his pro-reform educa - amount as was spent on media buys. What about the tion ideas and independence: “I support charter oft-cited $60 million figure? It was merely an estimate schools and pay for performance for teachers. Does n’t cobbled together in the spring of 2007 to generate make me popular with the teachers union. . . . I’ve media attention for the campaign launch; according got a history of reaching across the aisle.” McCain to an insider, “That number was never real.” praised newly appointed Washington, D.C., schools Barack Obama’s election night victory was a bit - chief Michelle Rhee—as did Obama—and pointed tersweet moment for the ED in ’08 team. Obama was

12 Alexander Russo THE SUCCESSFUL FAILURE OF ED IN ’08 the candidate who most seemed to have listened to was a new president moving into the White House their message and even adopted some of their ideas. and a new education secretary to gush over. But the group’s role remained unknown or unac - By July 2009 it was as if ED in ’08 had never knowledged, and instead of gearing up for the tran - existed. There was not even a postmortem evalua - sition and the beginning of a new administration, tion of the effort to assess lessons learned, suggest - they were being told to shut things down. It seemed ing the effort was not even worth learning from. extremely unlikely that any of them would get a “There was no appetite for that at all,” said one for - plum job in the Obama administration (and indeed, mer insider. “None.” none of them did). Indeed, the Gates Foundation was already rolling After Election Day, the ED in ’08 office remained out its newest big idea, which focused on improving open, albeit at a diminished level of activity. They teacher quality and effectiveness in selected school prepared a series of white papers for the Obama tran - districts around the country, just as it had moved on sition and a January 2009 Philadelphia event with quickly from its $2 billion small schools initiative a lame-duck President Bush. But Jerald had already couple of years before. “There was no real reflection, returned to consulting and research, his brief excur - no real collective learning,” said a knowledgeable sion into politics having ended months before. Com - insider. “It was all about moving move on to the next munication director Murphy went back to Los silver bullet.” Angeles, where she had already lined up her next campaign. Eventually, Lampkin would return to the private sector. Lasting Fingerprints “I think everyone left there frustrated,” said Lamp - kin. “The voters didn’t get it. Some of the foundation To be sure, ED in ’08 was not nearly as effective as staff got it, but Gates didn’t pay attention and what had been hoped, either in terms of its behind- Broad wanted wasn’t achievable.” the- scenes efforts to influence the candidates or its pub lic-facing campaign to raise general awareness. Its flaws—overly ambitious and contradictory goals, Erasing the Memory a mismatched set of foundations, and a restrictive legal interpretation of its operational structure— It is not easy to make a $25 million national advocacy seemed even more obvious in retrospect. It was campaign disappear, but that is what seemed to hap - an organization designed to influence public pol- pen after the November 2008 election. The website icy, which by definition could leave no proof of was shut down without being archived. Few of the that influence. Gates officials who had been at the foundation or There was no shortage of criticisms: “I can’t see involved in creating the effort—like John Bailey and that the $60 million had much of any impact,” said Marie Groark—were still at the foundation by that Bob Compton, who funded the Two Million Minutes time. The Broad Foundation claimed the shutdown documentary that had been screened widely by ED in was by design. And no one was really paying attention ’08. “Ad hoc, hastily organized, over-funded organi - anymore, anyway. Conventional wisdom had already zations rarely do.” “ED in ’08 reflected the big ideas of solidified around the idea that ED in ’08 was a fail - its time,” said the Fordham Institute’s Mike Petrilli, ure— a dismal waste of time and money, an embar - “some of which (especially national standards) have rassment whose name should not be spoken and come to fruition. But it would be a big stretch to give whose memory would hopefully fade fast. ED in ’08 credit.” News outlets and education analysts were equally And yet, advocacy campaigns were notoriously eager to turn their attention to other things. There expensive and difficult to pull off for even the most

13 FUTURE OF AMERICAN EDUCATION PROJECT experienced organizations. The NEA had allocated teacher effectiveness and national standards—would $40 million to try to shape the public conversation come to dominate the Obama education agenda and during the 2008 cycle, but its preferred candidate, the education debate for the next four years. Hillary Clinton, lost in the primaries, and in opposi - “Did the candidate who won pursue education tion to NEA goals, Barack Obama, supported charter vigorously?” asked Lampkin. “Yes, he did.” With schools more openly and enthusiastically than any some minor variations, Obama adopted ED in ’08’s Democratic candidate ever had before. policy goals, said Lampkin. “The seeds were defi - nitely planted.” Looked at a little more closely, ED in ’08 In June 2009, ED in ’08 issued a report on Face - book, claiming to have “helped turn the need for was not nearly the complete and utter education reform from a low-priority campaign issue failure it may have seemed to be. into one of the Obama administration’s top policy priorities.” 36 Its tally of accomplishments included 150 pages of research, 125,000 supporters, 200 “Many lobbies try to influence presidential con - organizers and advisers, almost 1,000 events in seven tenders,” noted the Washington Post , “but few get key states, and over 6,000 media stories. The ED in much in return for their labors.” 35 ’08 website had racked up nearly a million page “Their influence was zero,” said one Obama cam - views, received the Addy award for best public serv - paign adviser who did not want to be named. “But ice initiative, and had a top-twenty (number of hits) then again, so was pretty much everyone else’s.” video on YouTube, according to the final report. “Greenpeace has been doing this for forty years, More important, and even less recognized, ED in but ED in ’08 was supposed to change the national ’08 was the rough prototype for advocacy-focused dialogue in sixteen months,” said Hess. He described school reform efforts that became commonplace in ED in ’08 as “a silly, wasteful, and embarrassing mess, the following years, when new education advocacy but it still had a big impact on Common Core.” organizations sprouted up or expanded across the “I think they generally helped convey a sense that country. In this regard, ED in ’08 was the prototype— the old playbook wasn’t working for good schools an expensive and very public beta test. Awkward and anymore,” said DFER’s Williams. “Knowing they obvious as it was, it demonstrated that reformers were out there likely bolstered the position inside needed to be engaged in politics and policy and sug - each campaign of the people who wanted to push.” gested some of the ways that worked and did not. Indeed, looked at a little more closely, ED in ’08 “ED in ’08 was the ‘aha’ moment” for funders, was not nearly the complete and utter failure it may said education consultant Jennifer Vraneck. “They have seemed to be. It was, arguably, one of the reasons realized that it’s incredibly hard to shift the debate Obama felt comfortable enough not to retreat into without public support.” safe positions during the campaign (like his predeces - sor John Kerry had so infamously done in 2004). ED in ’08 may also have contributed to Obama’s decision Lessons Learned (and Not Yet Mastered) to press forward with national standards and per - formance pay for teachers once he was in office. While ED in ’08 is barely remembered today, its basic When President Obama announced his $5 billion tactics and strategies are everywhere, making it per - education initiative, Race to the Top, in early 2009, a haps the most-imitated “failure” in modern reform group of ED in ’08 alumni gathered to watch. They history. As we approach Election Day 2012, funders could not help but feel that they were at least partly and advocates already seem to have absorbed at least responsible. Two of ED in ’08’s three main issues— a few lessons from ED in ’08:

14 Alexander Russo THE SUCCESSFUL FAILURE OF ED IN ’08

An Acceptable Activity: ED in ’08 showed funders times, much like Gates, Broad, Romer, and Lampkin and nonprofit grantees that a 501(c)(3) nonprofit fought over how to best implement ED in ’08. The could be involved in serious policy and advocacy expansion of advocacy has created conflicts and coor - work without automatically generating an IRS investi - dination issues among different advocacy groups gation—a nd that the complicated tools of public operating in the same states or districts, or on similar advocacy were worth wielding. policy issues, many of which remain unresolved.

Creating State and Local Networks: Partly in Too Combative, Too Collaborative: If ED in ’08 response to the challenges faced by ED in ’08, most of was at times overly cautious in its tactics and mes - these new efforts are being set up as networks of semi- saging, some of the initiatives launched in its after - autonomous state-level organizations with somewhat math have been overly aggressive, made inaccurate fluid agendas. As state-level advocacy organizations, or misleading claims, and chosen particularly they are able to build ongoing relationships with key controversial priorities regarding teachers and teach - education stakeholders and adapt their efforts to suit ers unions. At the same time, most reform advocacy state dynamics. organizations seem much less eager to make Demo - cratic lawmakers uncomfortable. 37 Most stay well Alternative Nonprofit Status: Having seen the lim - within the accepted norms of centrist Democratic its ED in ’08 experienced as a 501(c)(3), many of the policies and the views of major foundations. There more recent organizations now include 501(c)(4) have been no glitter bombs, sit-ins, or “mic checks” affiliates. “Everyone and his dog has a (c)(4) now,” from reformers. “Everybody has to decide, are says longtime Washington education advocate Amy you about your guys being safe, or about fixing Wilkins, a vice president at the Education Trust. schools?” says Lampkin. “Who gives a s*** if you These organizations cannot take money from non - have the White House if they’re not doing things profits or give money directly to candidates, but they that are right?” are not required to reveal their donors and can do pretty much everything else. In other areas, however, it seems that reform Conclusion organizations may not yet have fully absorbed the lessons of ED in ’08: The 2004 and 2008 presidential election cycles and the 2012 campaign thus far seem to show that edu - Political Talent: ED in ’08 put a premium on hiring cation reform will not, by itself, be a top domestic campaign veterans, but many new advocacy organi - policy issue in most lawmakers’ and candidates’ zations are headed by people who have not gotten minds and that the public will not of its own volition themselves or anyone else elected, gotten a law or ref - push candidates to focus on education issues. erendum passed, or even worked inside some of the “It’s the same question now as it was then,” says a governmental agencies they are trying to change. “It’s former Gates staffer. “What is that thing that will help a different set of skills, different perspective and per - make education a higher issue so there’s a greater sonality traits to do this work,” says ED in ’08’s Jerald. awareness? How do you get people to start thinking “You’re not going to recruit these [political] people about education?” from think tanks.” Or at least you should not, accord - Just 1 percent of the time spent in the Republican ing to Jerald. primaries was dedicated to education, according to a February 2012 review of the Republican primary Coordination and Articulation: These new advo - debates. 38 “So far in this campaign season, education cacy groups have quarreled among themselves at has gotten about as much airtime as saving the

15 FUTURE OF AMERICAN EDUCATION PROJECT ivory-billed woodpecker,” wrote Education Week ’s Another possibility is the creation of an inde - Alyson Klein in April. 39 pendent, single-issue advocacy group—an NAACP, This raises the issue of the need for some sort of AARP, Emily’s List, or Greenpeace for K–12 educa - regular education advocacy effort on the national level. tion policy—with its own funding to generate inter - In April, the College Board released public opinion est and support like-minded candidates. A results showing strong interest in candidates dis - multiyear, multicycle campaign like this may be cussing education issues and launched a self-funded education advocates’ only real chance at making awareness campaign called “Don’t Forget Ed!” 40 dramatic changes.

16 Notes

1. Jeffrey Birnbaum, “On Campaign Trail, Lobbies Spend 16. Several former ED in ’08 and foundation staffers Big but Gain Little,” Washington Post , February 4, 2008. shared their experiences during that period on the condi - 2. Unless otherwise noted, all quotations in this piece tion that they not be named. come from personal interviews with the author. 17. Current officials from the Gates Foundation were 3. David M. Herszenhorn, “Billionaires Start $60 Million willing to provide background information about ED in ’08 Schools Effort,” New York Times , April 25, 2007. but would not comment on the record. 4. Kathleen Kingsbury, “Nonprofits Want Campaign 18. Marc Ambinder, “Vote for Ed!” Hotline On Call, Voice,” Time , November 20, 2007, www.time.com/time/nation April 25, 2007, http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com /article/0,8599,1686426,00.html (accessed May 23, 2012). /archives/2007/04/vote_for_ed.php (accessed May 23, 2012). 5. Robert Frank, “Creating the Virtual Candidate,” Wall 19. Strong American Schools, Turning Campaign Pillars Street Journal , April 26, 2007. into Presidential Priorities , June 2009. 6. Raymond Domanico et al., Can Philanthropy Fix Our 20. Birnbaum, “On Campaign Trail.” Schools? Appraising Walter Annenberg’s $500 Million Gift to 21. “Gates Donates $30 Million.” Public Education (Thomas B. Fordham Institute, April 1, 22. Higginbottom, now an official at the Office of Man - 2000), http://208.106.213.194/detail/news.cfm?news_ agement and Budget, declined requests for an interview. id=41&id= (accessed May 23, 2012). 23. Erik W. Robelen and Alyson Klein, “Effort for Educa - 7. Vartan Gregorian et al., “Rethinking America’s tion as Campaign Issue Fights for Traction,” Education Schools,” Philanthropy Magazine (April 2005). Week , December 3, 2007, www.edweek.org/ew/articles/ 8. Fredrick M. Hess, ed., With the Best of Intentions 2007/12/05/14ed.h27.html (accessed May 24, 2012). (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Publishing Group, 24. Kingsbury, “Nonprofits Want Campaign Voice.” 2005). 25. Ibid. 9. Robert Gordon, “Class Struggle,” The New Republic , 26. In a November 2007 blog post, I described ED in ’08 June 6, 2005, www.tnr.com/article/class-struggle (accessed as the “least vigorous and specific” of the election-focused May 23, 2012). nonprofit campaigns. See Alexander Russo, “Let’s Get More 10. Ibid. Specific: What about a $100B Pledge?,” This Week in Edu - 11. “Gates Donates $30 Million to Education Reform cation, November 27, 2007, http://scholasticadministrator Group,” Bloomberg News, January 4, 2008, www.nysun.com .typepad.com/thisweekineducation/2007/11/what-about- /business/gates-donates-30-million-to-education-reform- a-10.html (accessed May 24, 2012). group/68921/ (accessed May 23, 2012). 27. “About,” ONE Vote ’08, www.onevote08.org/ 12. Herszenhorn, “Billionaires Start $60 Million Schools aboutone.php (accessed March 12, 2012). Effort.” 28. Officially launched in 2005, DFER did not hold its 13. Ibid. first event until 2007. 14. “Our Billionaire Philanthropist Problem—and Yours” 29. Disclosure: I attended and blogged about this event. (editorial), Rethinking Schools 22, no. 1 (Fall 2007), 30. Robelen and Klein, “Effort for Education.” www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/22_01/edit221.shtml 31. Birnbaum, “On Campaign Trail.” (accessed May 23, 2012). 32. I was one of them, having pitched a politics blog to 15. Ibid. Lampkin in December 2007 and accepted reimbursement

17 FUTURE OF AMERICAN EDUCATION PROJECT

for travel expenses to attend an ED in ’08 blogger summit political independence from the Democratic Party and the in May 2008. foundations that have supported them. 33. Clay Holtzman, “Gates, Broad Foundations Stop 38. “What Questions Do Journalists Like to Ask?,” The Contributing to Election-Awareness Campaign,” Puget Guardian , February 16, 2012. Sound Business Journal , September 25, 2008. 39. Alyson Klein, “Voters Want to Hear More about 34. Erik W. Robelen, “Gates Revamps Its Strategy for Education This Election Season,” Education Week , Politics Giving to Education,” Education Week , November 11, K–12 (blog), April 4, 2012, http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek 2008, www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/11/11/13gates /campaign-k-12/2012/04/so_remember_ed_in_08.html .h28.html?tmp=1906692071 (accessed May 24, 2012). (accessed May 24, 2012). 35. Birnbaum, “On Campaign Trail.” 40. Joy Resmovits, "Education Top-Tier 2012 Election 36. Strong American Schools, Turning Campaign Pillars . Issue in Swing States, Survey Shows," Huffington Post, April 37. StudentsFirst and DFER support tuition credits and 4, 2012, www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/04/education- vouchers, but not limits on collective bargaining. In election-2012-swing-state-issue_n_1402529.html endorsing Republican candidates and ideas, StudentsFirst (accessed May 24, 2012). and Stand for Children have demonstrated a degree of