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Chicago Annenberg Challenge

Location:

Chicago, IL
Tax ID:

36-4016426
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)-PF

Type:

Public School Reform Program
Status:

Defunct (as of 2021)
Duration:

1995-2001
Board Chair:

Barack Obama
Budget:

$150 million

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The Chicago Annenberg Challenge was a Chicago public-school reform project funded in 1995 by a $49.2 million 2-to-1 challenge grant from the Annenberg Foundation. The grant was matched by pledges from three Chicago foundations and public funding from the Illinois 1988 School Reform Act. 1

A board comprised of prominent Chicago business and civic leaders and chaired by then Illinois state Senator Barack Obama (D-Chicago) solicited donations for the project and approved grants. 2 From 1995 to 2001, the Annenberg Challenge funneled grant money to 210 Chicago public schools. On average, each school received only 1 percent of its operating budget from the initiative. 1

The project had no statistically significant impact on student achievement. However, a subset of 18 schools which received more substantial funding modestly improved or sustained school development activities. 1

Background

Walter Annenberg, a billionaire American media mogul and philanthropist, observed, “Everybody around the world wants to send their kids to our universities […] But nobody wants to send their kids here to public school […] So we’ve got to do something. If we don’t, our civilization will collapse.” 3

At a 1993 White House ceremony, Annenberg announced a $500 million Educational Challenge to the Nation. $113 million was allocated to national school reform institutions. The remaining $387 million was to be distributed to public schools and arts education. 4

Vartan Gregorian, then-president of Brown University made final funding decisions for the public education millions. Nine grants were awarded in the largest urban areas and five smaller grants to mid-size cities. A Rural Challenge funded 700 schools. 4

The Chicago project played out against the backdrop of conflicting Illinois school-reform legislation. A 1988 law set up local school councils at each school and gave them the power to hire principals. It was this law that influenced the Chicago Challenge’s aims. 5 Six months after the Chicago Challenge had begun, a second round of legislation emphasized test-score performance. This set up tensions and conflicts within the schools. Schools opted for the testing regimen since they could be severely penalized for poor student performance. 1

The winning proposal for the Chicago grant was drafted by William Ayers, college professor and former member of the radical-left militant group Weather Underground; Anne Hallett, former director of the Wieboldt Foundation; and Warren Chapman, senior program officer at the Joyce Foundation. 6 Ayers, Hallett, and Chapman presented their proposal in 1994. Acceptance was smoothed by a pledge from Chicago’s three largest foundations to meet the private donation match. It was agreed that the public match would come from public funds committed to implementation of the 1988 school reform law. 7

Philosophy

The Annenberg Challenge’s “theory of change” consisted of allegiance to local school self- determination. Grantees were not given explicit instructions. The project never outlined goals and objectives. 1

The Challenge’s focus was on three problems of school organization. 8 These were: “a) the lack of time for […] teaching, […] learning and […] professional development; b) the large size of school enrollments […] hindering […] supportive adult-student relationships; and c) schools’ isolation from parents and communities.” 1   

Activities

The Challenge ran from 1995 to 2001. It funded 210 schools or 40 percent of Chicago public schools; 90 percent were elementary schools. It initially distributed small planning grants and implementation grants. 9

From 1995 to 1999, grants were not given directly to the schools but were awarded to 45 External Partners. One third had no previous experience with schools. Each External Partner administered a network of from 3 to 15 schools. 10

At its high point in 1999, the Annenberg Challenge distributed $9.6 million, an average of $47,000 per school or 1.2 percent of a typical school’s budget. Between 1999 and 2000 the amount declined to $29,000 in 2000, and finally to $2,600 in 2001, leaving schools with “almost no” financial support. 1

The exceptions were Breakthrough Schools. In 1999, the project selected 18 schools to receive $50,000 per year for two years. The funding went directly to each school. These schools had greater latitude as to how they could use the money and more funding to work with. 9

Results

New York Times journalist Sam Dillon observed that the Annenberg Challenge “spent $150 million on Chicago’s troubled schools and barely made a dent.” 11

The project’s external evaluators concluded that Annenberg had “little impact on student outcomes.” 1

Effects on other aspects of school functioning were only observed in the Breakthrough Schools. Breakthrough Schools sustained or strengthened aspects of the teacher professional community, school leadership, and relational trust. However, those effects were modest. 1

The researchers concluded that the Annenberg Challenge “provided too few resources and too little support to too many schools and External Partners.” 1

Controversies

Right-of-center critics focus on the involvement of former President Barack Obama, at the time an Illinois state legislator, in a “failed” project and on his association with radical-left activist William Ayers. 8

Writing in National Review, Stanley Kurtz alleged that Obama had a close working relationship with Ayers and that Obama “clearly aligned himself with Ayers’ radical views.” 12

Andrew J. Coulson, former Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, noted Annenberg’s “total failure,” claiming Obama “remains committed to its failed approach” and was “now asking voters for the power to waste hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars.” 13

The Obama campaign claimed that Obama and Ayers “did not work closely together to exchange and develop policy ideas.” 4

The president of Chicago’s Spencer Foundation asserted that “Bill Ayers had nothing to do with the appointment of Obama to the Annenberg Challenge, and he was not significantly involved with the Challenge after Obama was appointed.” 4

Others allege that attempts to reform the public school system are misdirected. Gary Lamb of the Foundation for Economic Education argues that the Annenberg grants could have been better spent on promoting private schools for “poor and rich alike.” 14

Coulson highlighted the failure of “model school efforts” to “spark the system-wide transformation that Annenberg sought” due to their lack of “market freedoms and incentives.” 13

Martin Morse Wooster, affiliated with Capital Research Center, noted that the lesson learned by donors from Annenberg’s “Titanic failure” was that “they had to have some say in how their grants would be spent.” 15

Joanne Barkan, a right-of-center philanthropy expert, argued that large foundations should not be involved in public schools. 16

People

Walter Hubert Annenberg was an American businessman, philanthropist, and diplomat. He was one of the most generous philanthropists in U.S. history giving over $2 billion to educational institutions and art. 17

Vartan Gregorian was an American historian. From 1981 to 1989 Gregorian served as president of the New York Public Library. In 1988 he was appointed president of Brown University and in 1997 he became president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. 18

William Ayers is a retired professor. In 1969 he founded the Weather Underground, a radical-left militant group. He was a co-author of the winning grant proposal for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. 19

References

  1. Smylie, Mark A. and Stacy A. Wenzel. 2003. The Chicago Annenberg Challenge: Successes, failures, and lessons for the future: Final technical report of the Chicago Annenberg research project. Chicago: Consortium on Chicago School Research. Accessed October 10, 2023.  https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/chicago-annenberg-challenge-first-three-years
  2. “Chicago Annenberg Challenge.” Accessed October 15, 2023. https://memim.com/chicago-annenberg-challenge.html
  3. Ogden, Christopher. Legacy: A Biography of Moses and Walter Annenberg. Hachette UK, 2009. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/legacy-christopher-ogden/1100294479
  4. Aarons, Dakarai I. “Chicago Annenberg Challenge in Spotlight.” Education Week, October 9, 2008, sec. Policy & Politics, Education Funding. Accessed October 7, 2023. https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/chicago-annenberg-challenge-in-spotlight/2008/10
  5. Aarons, Dakarai I. “Backers Say Chicago Project Not ‘Radical.’” Education Week, October 9, 2008, sec. Policy & Politics, Federal. https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/backers-say-chicago-project-not-radical/2008/10
  6. Shipps, Dorothy. School Reform, Corporate Style: Chicago, 1880-2000. University Press of Kansas, 2006. Accessed October 15, 2023. https://www.google.com/books/edition/School_Reform_Corporate_Style/_9KeAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=chicago+annenberg+challenge&pg=PA264&printsec=frontcover
  7.  Newmann, Fred, Karin Sconzert. 2000. Improving Chicago’s Schools. Chicago: Consortium on Chicago School Research. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/
  8. Romano, Andrew. “Assessing Ayers: Innuendo vs. Information.” Newsweek, October 10, 2008. https://www.newsweek.com/assessing-ayers-innuendo-vs-information-219532
  9. Sconzert, Karin, Dorothy Shipps, and Mark A. Smylie. 1998. The case of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. Chicago: Consortium on Chicago School Research. Accessed October 11, 2023. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/
  10. Sconzert, Karin, Mark A. Smylie, Stacy A. Wenzel. 2004. Working for School Improvement:  Reflections of Chicago Annenberg External Partners. Chicago: Consortium on Chicago School Research. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/
  11. [1] Dillon, Sam. “Obama Looks to Lessons From Chicago in His National Education Plan.” The New York Times, September 10, 2008, sec. U.S. Accessed October 7, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/10/us/politics/10educate.html
  12.  Kurtz, Stanley. “Chicago Annenberg Challenge Shutdown?” National Review.  August 18, 2008. Accessed October 14, 2023. https://www.nationalreview.com/2008/08/chicago-annenberg-challenge-shutdown-stanley-kurtz/
  13. Coulson, Andrew J. The Wreck of the Annenberg. October 27, 2008. Cato Institute. Accessed October 8, 2023. https://www.cato.org/commentary/wreck-annenberg#
  14. Lamb, Gary. The Devastating Effect of the Annenberg Grants. October 1, 1995. Foundation for Economic Freedom. Accessed October 9, 2023. https://fee.org/articles/the-devastating-effect-of-the-annenberg-grants
  15. Wooster, Martin Morse. Should Private Philanthropy Influence Public Education? July 14, 2020. Philanthropy Daily. Accessed October 7, 2023. https://philanthropydaily.com/private-philanthropy-public-education/
  16. Barkan, Joanne. “Got Dough? How Billionaires Rule Our Schools.” Winter 2011. Dissent Magazine. Accessed October 15, 2023. https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/got-dough-how-billionaires-rule-our-schools/
  17. Glueck, Grace. “Walter Annenberg, Philanthropist and Media Baron, Dies at 94.” The New York Times, October 1, 2002, sec. Obituaries. Accessed October 15, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/01/obituaries/walter-annenberg-philanthropist-and-media-baron-dies-at-94.html
  18. McFadden, Robert D. “Vartan Gregorian, Savior of the New York Public Library, Dies at 87.” The New York Times, April 16, 2021, sec. New York. Accessed October 15, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/16/nyregion/vartan-gregorian-dead.html
  19. Schaper, David. “Bill Ayers, Explained.” NPR, October 16, 2008, sec. Debates. Accessed October 15, 2023. https://www.npr.org/sections/vox-politics/2008/10/bill_ayers_explained.html
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