If you can name a billionaire, odds are, they’ve given some of their philanthropic stash to the world of education.
Considering education is a gateway to success and opportunity, it’s no wonder that the ultra rich find it attractive for their philanthropy, says Fredrick Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a policy think tank.
“Education is a system that’s made up of people who are dedicated, passionate, hard working, who collectively and in aggregate, don’t achieve the results that they would hope to achieve,” Wallerstein tells Fortune.
After receiving a request for comment, The Primary School and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative pointed Fortune to the institute’s website.
Ye’s attempt at education was also ambitious, but short lived. The rapper opened Donda Academy, a private Christian school for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students, in the fall of 2022. But just months later, the school shut its doors following outrage over a series of his posts on social media that were blasted for being antisemitic.
Whether it be a new school or major philanthropic donation, Wallerstein says failure is not uncommon.
“I think in some cases what some folks might view as failures actually reflect a degree of situational awareness and self awareness, about, wow, this problem is a lot harder than we thought,” he says.
Philanthropy is like risk capital, Wallerstein adds: “You build things, you test things, you scale things, you see what works, you kill bad ideas.”
Despite the education system’s flaws, change is not always welcome, and outsiders’ attempts at innovation can often have unintended consequences.
“It’s really easy for well-meaning donors to wind up accidentally politicizing things or making sensible ideas seem like they’re being pushed by shadowy outsiders,” Hess says.
