Social Impact Bonds -- Gambling with our futures

In a previous post, I promised to provide more insight into social impact bonds (SIBs), also known as "Pay for Success" schemes. Parents across the country are working to expose this surreptitious practice that threatens our public institutions. While our coverage here has concentrated on how social impact investing affects public schools, this research does not limit itself to a single topic. The lion's hare of this work has been initiated and executed by Alison McDowell, a scrappy parent who blogs at Wrench In the Gears. Her extensive knowledge on the topic and her ability to simplify complex ideas into media that we can assimilate are exemplified in her latest video, Gambling on Our Futures: Big Data, Global Finance, and Digital Life. A slideshow can be viewed here with a complete script. The 10 minutes spent viewing this video gives a cursory look into social impact investing is well worth the time.

Additional Resources

• Impact Investing and Venture Philanthropy’s Role in Sowing the Seeds of Financial Opportunity, Tim Scott, Truthout, Link

• Social Impact Bonds: The Titans of Finance as the Altruistic Merchants of Schools and the Common Good, Tim Scott, Dissident Voice, Link

• Education Technology, Surveillance and America’s Authoritarian Democracy, Tim Scott, Dissident Voice, Link

• Race, Finance and the Afterlife of Slavery, A talk given at the Whitney Museum of America Art by Dr. Justin Leroy, Link and his paper Bonded Life Download

• Global Finance Needs Our Schools to Fail, Wrench in the Gears, Link

• What You Should Know About “Pay For Success” As Testing Season Approaches, Wrench in the Gears, Link

• Smart Cities and Social Impact Bonds: Public Education’s Hostile Takeover Part II, Wrench in the Gears, Link

• Who are the Players in Pay for Success / Social Impact Bonds?, Wrenches of Resistance, Link

• Is Wall Street About to Take Over Public Education Once and For All?, Emily Talmage, Save Maine Schools, Link

• The Real Reason Your Child Is Being Psychologically Profiled At School, Emily Talmage, Save Maine Schools, Link

• Wall Street Zombies, Coming Soon to a Pre-K Near You, Emily Talmage, Save Maine Schools, Link

• Social Impact Bonds, A Primer, Deb Mayer, Parents Across America, Link

• Pay for Success-Also Known as Social Impact Bonds, Senator Orrin Hatch and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Carolyn Leith, Seattle Education, Link

• Pay for Success and the McCleary Crisis: Did the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Help Position Social Impact Bonds As A Last Resort Funding Option For Our Public Schools?, Carolyn Leith, Seattle Education, Link

• The Proposed NSA-Like National Database for Student Data: Moneyball for Kids, Cheri Kiesecker, Missouri Education Watchdog, Link

• Congress Suspending Rules to Rush Through Bill For National Citizen Data System: HR 4174, Cheri Kiesecker, Missouri Education Watchdog, Link

• Scoop.it! page of articles on Pay for Success Programs and Social Impact Bonds, curated by Roxana Marachi, EduResearcher, Link

#socialimpactbonds #PayforSuccess #AlisonMcDowell