How much influence should wealthy donors be able to buy? Kevin Kumashiro looks at the question is “When Billionaires Become Educational Experts,” in the May-June issue of Academe. Kumashiro examines the history of two groups, the Philanthropy Roundtable and the Business Roundtable, which have had outsized influence in education policy from their founding in the 1970s through the present day. As Kumashiro explains, many of the major reforms in public education, including the increasing emphasis on “standards-based reforms,” are the result of careful strategy by these groups and their intellectual progeny. Read the whole story here.