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Charter School Reform Case Study

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While the sentiment behind venture philanthropy is morally and ethically sound, the growing degree of power that philanthropists’ posses is largely unregulated and un-scrutinized, which calls for a reformation of the venture philanthropy sector.
Before venturing into the analyses of the case study Sponsor of Policy: A Network Analysis of Wealthy Elites, Their Affiliated Philanthropies, and Charter School Reform in Washington State, it is important to understand the case itself. The charter school reform movement in Washington state began in 2012 with the passage of Initiative 1240. Initiative 1240 was the necessary legislation need to legalize charter schools in Washington state. As of 2012, only nine US states did not allow charter schools. Resultantly, Washington state needed a popular vote to pass. There were three previous votes in opposition to charter schools with a vote in 1996, 2000, and 2004. After the 2004 vote, there was …show more content…

Consequently, these donors all have the similar goal of funding the pro-charter movement, which hopefully would provide high quality education in the public sphere. Au and Ferrare note that the donors attempt to appeal to the population by making a case for a grassroots movement. In actuality, they are invoking an “Astroturf” movement that is fabricated to appeal to the public by appearing “unsolicited, autonomous, and community rooted without actually being so” (Au & Ferrer, 18). Individuals do so by enacting material sponsorship through philanthropic foundations to gain the prestige associated with their foundations philanthropic reputation. Similarly, their actions through their nonprofit organizations appear to be more closely aligned with grassroots communities due to the aforementioned

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