Dive Brief:
- In a Saturday column, the Washington Post's Valerie Strauss pieced together ways in which Bill Gates and his company Microsoft may benefit from the Common Core.
- Strauss printed an excerpt from an interview transcript in which the billionaire took offense at Post reporter Lyndsey Layton's questions on his motivations for supporting the Common Core, and if, as the owner of a tech company, he hopes to benefit from the standards' push for online learning.
- While Strauss takes Gate's response as truth — that he was not motivated by self-interests — she points out a recent Diane Ravitch blog post that shows how Microsoft is in fact gaining from the Common Core.
Dive Insight:
At the end of the day Bill Gates is a billionaire — and seems to enjoy giving away his money — so it's somewhat difficult imagining him trying to turn a profit off of these standards. Additionally, the fact that he comes from the tech sector may alone explain why he emphasizes online learning. That's clearly where he sees the future. So regardless of potential monetary gain, he is going to think students need tech skills.
The bigger question with Gates is not so much the profit side, but his qualifications for advocating for one set of standards or another.
