Who is Eli Broad and why is he using his billions to help destroy public education in the major urban school systems?
Therein lies a long tale and I’ve elucidated much of it on my ednotesonline.com/ blog. Broad has simple answers to complex questions. Nationally recognized educational historian Diane Ravitch sums it up: “About 18 months ago, I was invited to meet Eli Broad in his gorgeous penthouse in New York City, overlooking Central Park. I hear that he made his billions in the insurance and real estate businesses. I am not sure when he became an education expert. We talked about school reform for an hour or more, and he told me that what was needed to fix the schools was not all that complicated: A tough manager surrounded by smart graduates of business schools and law schools. Accountability. Tight controls. Results. In fact, New York City is the perfect model of school reform from his point of view. Indeed, this version of school reform deserves the Broad Prize, a prize conferred by one billionaire on another.” Deborah Meier, a nationally respected progressive educator for the past 40 years says
