Below is an excerpt of a well researched article regarding the Department of Education and the Gates Foundation written by Kenneth Libby.

To see this article in its’ entirety, go to:

What Shelton’s Waiver Tells Us About the Gates Foundation and DOE

Just one day after his inauguration, President Obama issued an executive order outlining his Ethics Pledge. The Ethics Pledge is designed to establish baseline expectations about the behavior of top officials. It is also designed as a way to ensure the public trust and deter both real and perceived conflicts of interest.

The executive order banned lobbyists from entering government and put restrictions on all other individuals entering government. During his campaign, then-Senator Obama was clear about closing the “revolving door on former employers”. Section 1, paragraph two of the Ethics Pledge states:

2. Revolving Door Ban – All Appointees Entering Government – I will not for a period of 2 years from the date of my appointment participate in any particular matter involving specific parties that is directly and substantially related to my former employer or former clients, including regulations and contracts.

As one DOJ Ethics Official put it:

A major purpose behind this restriction [paragraph 2] is to ensure that political appointees not leave the public with the appearance that any official actions they take are influenced by their former employers rather than by the interests of the United States.

Note how the DOJ Ethics Official says the purpose is to prevent even the appearance of a former employer influencing an appointee.

But there are always exceptions to the rules, and waivers can be granted to permit appointees to have contact with their former employer. Section 3 notes a waiver may be granted if it is decided:

(i) that the literal application of the restriction is inconsistent with the purpose of the restriction, or (ii) that it is in the public interest to grant the waiver.

Further:

Section 3(b) The public interest shale include, but not be limited to, exigent circumstances relating to national security or to the economy.

A recent USOGE report states:

Finally, ten agencies and the White House had granted a total of 22 so-called “reverse revolving door” waivers as of December 31, 2009. These waivers allow appointees to participate in matters in which their former employers or clients had an interest. In all cases, agencies and the White House deemed these waivers essential to the appointees’ ability to carry out their duties.

I decided to look at the majority of these waivers and see if there were any noteworthy patterns.  The so-called “reverse revolving door” waivers for Executive Agency appointees (17 in total) are outlined below and categorized along with similar cases. I established the following categories based on my review:

1. Tangential to the Appointed Position

2. No Money Involved

3. Former Employer is a Governmental/International Organization

4. National/Economic Security Purposes

5. Gates Foundation

I conclude with a discussion about the final category, the Gates Foundation, particularly the waiver for James H. Shelton III, Assistant Secretary for Education and Improvement, and, to a lesser extent, Margot Rogers, the Secretary’s Chief of Staff (Note: Rogers has since left her post and Joanne Weiss, former COO of NSVF and head of the Race to the Top, is now Duncan’s Chief of Staff). I have focused on these two appointees because they hold important positions; their waivers allow for the most extensive contact with their former employer; and their background in philanthropy raises some interesting questions.

While I am not aware of any other analysis of waivers for Executive Agency appointees, various media outlets have picked up on the Gates Foundation’s significant involvement in federal education policy: Michelle McNeil of EdWeek noted multiple Gates employees filling the Department of Education; Sam Dillon of the New York Times reported on the foundation’s role in helping some states write their Race to the Top application, including complaints the foundation was trying to hand-pick eventual winners; Dana Goldstein of The American Prospect wrote about the i3 fund and how much of the federal agenda is “borrowed” from the philanthropic community; Libby Quaid and Donna Blankinship of the Associated Press began one article with, “The real secretary of education, the joke goes, is Bill Gates,” and noted the foundation’s growing influence on education policy; Erik W. Robelen and Michele McNeil noted in EdWeek that some observers suggest the Education Department and philanthropic organizations are “collaborating to an extend that may well be unprecedented”; Clay Holtzman of The Puget Sound Business Journal noted the similarities between the foundation’s agenda and the federal Department of Education’s agenda; and a recent Washington Post headline read, “Gates Foundation playing pivotal role in changes for education system”.

Below is my analysis.

Please see the rest of this article at Schools Matter.

Dora