Every morning I go through dozens of newspapers from around the country. Yesterday the headline that caught my eye read, "The real Secretary of Education, Bill Gates?" The article, written by Associated Press reporters Libby Quaid and Donna Blankinship, discussed the influence Microsoft founder Bill Gates has on education policy in the United States.

As part of President Barack Obama's stimulus plan, $5-billion has been designated to help overhaul elementary and secondary schools as part of the "Race to the Top" program. Washington lawmakers and the State Superintendent's office have already said they don't expect our state will qualify for any of the money under the first phase of the program. Now, it appears, the Gates Foundation is offering states like ours $250-thousand dollars to help them apply for the federal money. The catch? Their proposals must fall in line with Gates Foundation policy.

Since first declaring schools in the U.S. "obsolete" in a speech to theNational Governors' Association in 2005 and the unveiling of his Model Schools Initiative two years earlier, Gates has been fairly clear about his goals: base teacher pay on student test scores, have states agree on common academic standards and find innovative, new ways to teach Johnny to read.

Gates' influence on education policy stretches beyond the latest grants. Two former foundation staffers work with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan. Margot Rogers, the former special assistant to Gates' education director is Duncan's chief of staff. James Shelton, a former program director for the foundation's education division is assistant deputy secretary for education. According to the AP article, the administration has waived ethics rules to allow the two to deal with the foundation more freely.

The article quotes Gates as saying, "It's no secret the U.S.education system is failing. We're doing all kinds of experiments that are different. The Race to the Top is going to do many different ones. There's no group-think." The latest monies are on top of the roughly $200-million each year the Seattle-based foundation spends on grants to elementary and secondary school programs.

A Gates Foundation funded study on education pipeline issues shows the greatest leak in the pipeline occurs at the high school level when more than a million kids drop out of school every year. Another one million students, the study says, graduate from high school unready for college-level work. Clearly someone needs to come up with a solution to the dropout problem, regardless of who picks up the tab.

Critics of the Gates' plan to help states apply for the federal grant point to the fact that, as a private organization, the Gates Foundation is not required to disclose how to spend its money. Teachers unions also steadfastly oppose the plan - and any that ties teacher pay to how well their students perform.

Bill and Melinda Gates just happen to be in Washington, D.C. tonight to lobby for money for another of their passions, global health. A webcast of their presentation will be available at 5pm Pacific Time.