Philanthropy, Hidden Strategy, and Collective Resistance : A Primer for Concerned Educators

Conservative ideologues have sought to shift the focus from the collective good to the individual good and to redirect the purposes and aims of education away from public benefit and in favor of private enterprise. As such, market-oriented, privatized, and standardized approaches to education reform have worked toward achieving that goal. This book is a primer on how the political right is utilizing various aspects of philanthropy and the political process to influence educational policymaking.

In 1971, corporate lawyer and future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell wrote a detailed memo that galvanized a small group of conservative philanthropists to create an organizational structure and fifty-year plan to alter the political landscape of the United States. Funded with significant “dark money,” the fruits of their labor are evident today in the current political context and sharp cultural divisions in society. Philanthropy, Hidden Strategy, and Collective Resistance examines the ideologies behind the philanthropic efforts in education from the 1970s until today. Authors examine specific strategies philanthropists have used to impact both educational policy and practice in the U.S. as well as the legal and policy context in which these initiatives have thrived. The book, aimed for a broad audience of educators, provides a depth of knowledge of philanthropic funding as well as specific strategies to incite collective resistance to the current context of hyperaccountability, privatization of schooling at all levels, and attempts to move the U.S. further away from a commitment to the collective good.

Perfect for courses such as: Critical and Contemporary Issues in Education, Education Policy, Educational Policy Analysis, Social Foundations of Education, Philanthropy, Public Policy & Community Change, Philanthropic Studies, Sociology of Education, Politics of Education, Current Issues in Education, Government and the Mass Media, Polarization of American Politics.

Kathleen deMarrais is Professor, Emerita, Qualitative Research in the Mary Frances Early College of Education at the University of Georgia. Her research interests include qualitative research methods, critical qualitative research, and archival methods. In addition to numerous articles and book chapters, her recent books include Exploring the Archives: A Beginner’s Guide for Qualitative Researchers (with K. Roulston, 2021), Conservative Philanthropies and Organizations Shaping U.S. Educational Policy and Practice (with B. Herron & J. Copple, 2020), and Philanthropy, Hidden Strategy, and Collective Resistance: A Primer for Concerned Educators (with T. J. Brewer, J. C. Atkinson, B. Herron, and J. Lewis, 2019). In her spare time she enjoys gardening, raising chickens, baking pies, and exploring local community history.

T. Jameson Brewer, Ph.D., is an associate professor of social foundations of education at the University of North Georgia. His teaching experience spans the middle school, high school, undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels. Broadly conceptualized, his research focuses on the impact of privatization of public education by way of school vouchers, charter schools, alternative teacher certification, and homeschooling. Additionally, he researches the impacts of Christian nationalism on public schools and democracy. Find more at www.tjamesonbrewer.com.

Jamie C. Atkinson is an Assistant Professor of Foundations in Education and Master of Arts in Teaching Program Coordinator in the Department of Reading, Foundations, and Technology at Missouri State University. His teaching experience spans middle and high schools, undergraduate, and graduate levels. Jamie’s primary research focuses on how politics and ideologies combine to drive state educational policymaking. In addition, he examines socio-political, historical, and philosophical foundations contributing to critical democratic understandings in teacher education. His most recent article has been published in the journal Democracy and Education.

Brigette Adair Herron holds a Ph.D. in Adult Education from the Department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy at the University of Georgia. She is from Athens, Georgia and holds graduate certificates in Women’s Studies, Interdisciplinary Qualitative Studies, and Global Health. Her scholarly research interests include transnational and justice-oriented feminist pedagogy in adult and higher education, examining the influence of philanthropy and dark money on curriculum and pedagogy in higher education, and teaching and researching with qualitative research methodology. Recent books include Philanthropy, Hidden Strategy, and Collective Resistance: A Primer for Concerned Educators (with K. deMarrais, T. J. Brewer, J. Atkinson, & J. Lewis) and Neon Side of Town: The Story of the B-52s (with S. Creney).

Jamie B. Lewis is an Associate Professor and Chair of Studies in Educational Foundations at Georgia Gwinnett College began her professional career as an attorney and practiced law in Knoxville, Tennessee. She earned her PhD in Social Foundations at the University of Georgia. Jamie’s scholarship focuses on the impact of power and privilege on educational practices and policies, as well as the examination of the socio-cultural contexts of education. Her dissertation was a legal history of segregated education in Kansas between 1888 and 1954, in which she was able to combine her interests in law, sociocultural contexts, history and the ways that power and privilege impact educational practices and policies. Her current research explores how political connections between philanthropists and federal and state governments inform educational policies and practices, such as the Charter School Movement, Trigger Laws, Every Student Succeeds Act, ALEC and the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision.