Philanthropy’s Paradox: Chicago School Reform

Abstract
This article explores the role of Chicago’s foundations in the development, passage, and early implementation of the Chicago School Reform Act of 1988. Many researchers are examining the act’s history and effect, but the foundation role has largely been ignored. Writing as a participant-observer, the author contends that history should hold Chicago’s foundation community partially responsible for the act’s eventual success or failure, even though it played a small role in the act’s passage. Two factors created this paradox: The actions of a small group of funders prior to 1988 irrevocably linked the larger funder community to the act, and following the act’s passage, foundations quickly became vital to its implementation. Drawing on a new data base, the article highlights six characteristics of the behavior of Chicago’s foundations regarding reform. Weaving the Chicago story together with scholarly perspectives on the traditional foundation role in public affairs, the article closes with three guiding principles for foundations as they help develop and implement education reform policy.