Goldman Sachs undoubtedly has its faults. But the Church of Scientology it is not.
The reasons council officials in Tower Hamlets, one of London’s most deprived boroughs, had for turning down an offer of £2m to build and run a state school are known only to them.
The government’s plans to build 400 business-led city academies by 2010 are flawed, as an FT leader discusses on Tuesday. The requirement to cough up £2m to prove your charitable credentials has excluded groups with expertise but few resources, and organisations that have big ambitions to run state schools but need to turn a profit, or at least cover costs.
And of course, the scheme has also attracted controversy through a suspicion that some benefactors wish to promote a particular agenda, in one instance creationism.
So what are Tower Hamlets worried about? More bond maths in the classroom? Compulsory spreadsheet lessons for every pupil? Pitchbook preparation and “value-added” memo writing as a substitute for Shakespeare?
Please. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that Goldman Sachs were turned down because they are Goldman Sachs. So it’s inverse snobbery, or anti-Americanism, or just general unease about the monied types sitting down the road in EC4.
Goldman may not have masses of relevant experience or expertise in running schools. But it has deep, and apparently well-meaning, pockets – and presumably the ability to make available some of its high achieving, well-educated, well-remunerated employees to a school’s needs.