A school district in need of an audit over runaway spending and shrinking reserves certainly didn’t need this. We now know that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, that pedagogical deus ex machina, has come up short in its promises to Hillsborough County schools.
Instead of kicking in $100 million to improve teacher quality, its contribution will be $80 million. And that has to be matched by $124 million raised by the district–a reminder that this was not a string-less “gift.” And if teacher morale matters, and it always does, the results are notably shy of a district “win-win.”
No, it’s not a scandal, but if it were to become one, you know the media has “Gatesgate” at the ready.