The Gift of Education: Public Education and Venture Philanthropy

by Kenneth J. Saltman

This is a cutting edge book that not only maps and criticizes venture philanthropy but also offers a new and different way of conceptualizing public education in response to the neoliberal climate affecting all aspects of public education.

197 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Diana Kendall]

As always Kenneth Saltman clearly articulates the current trend of privatization in U.S. public education with the elite venture philanthropists at the head of the helm. The intense pressure by the largest foundations in the U.S. to destroy anything public and replace with the privatized is in full swing. As we see nonprofit (NOT PUBLIC) charter schools popping up like weeds within our public school districts education "entrepreneurs" simultaneously freely swindle public funding meant for public school children and laugh all the way to the bank while snickering "suckers!" to the rest of us as we flounder in bewilderment. The clearly identified monied decision-makers who hold the power and us hostage are destroying our future of imperative public discourse and social justice possibilities through democratic education and are clearly on a mission of personal initiatives that counter the public's interest at heart.

[Scott]

Wow! Saltman is on the cutting edge of the corporatization of public education and critical pedagogy! Read this if you can stomach being exposed to the myriad of ways our once top-tier educational system in the world has been and continues to be reduced to a dilapidated excuse for education and, more importantly, another space for capital to make a profit off the public while consuming critical spaces where Americans learn and can participate in true democracy.