With the Best of Intentions

Bringing together a mix of researchers and practitioners, With the Best of Intentionsexamines the major goals of recent philanthropic efforts and looks at some of the key lessons--for educators, philanthropists, policymakers, and community leaders--of philanthropic contributions to schools and school systems.

From the Gates small school initiative to the Annenberg challenge to the Broad prize for urban education, philanthropic giving has played an increasingly prominent role in recent years in education reform efforts across the United States. Yet while we recognize that philanthropic organizations influence education in countless ways, we know strikingly little about the extent, dynamics, and results of their efforts. This lack of knowledge calls out for urgent attention of total K-12 spending, it has a disproportionate impact in shaping reform agendas and promoting cutting-edge efforts to improve schools and classrooms.

With the Best of Intentions aims to fill this gap, offering lively perspectives on the role of philanthropy in K-12 education. It opens by surveying the current landscape in philanthropic giving to education, then examines the major goals of recent philanthropic efforts: building new schools, supporting troubled districts, promoting school choice, and advancing educational research and policy. The book concludes by looking at some of the major lessons--for educators, philanthropists, policymakers, and community leaders--of philanthropic contributions to schools and school systems.

An informative and multifaceted volume, With the Best of Intentions is also full of debates and controversies. It will be of interest to scholars, policymakers, and education and community leaders--as well as to the philanthropic community itself.

Frederick M. Hess is Director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute and Executive Editor ofEducation Next. He is the editor of Urban School Reform: Lessons from San Diegoand the coeditor of A Qualified Teacher in Every Classroom, both published by Harvard Education Press.