Jim Horn, an education expert, is taking a shot at Teach for America and KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) — and the donors that support them.

In a series on Change.org, Mr. Horn questions these well-known organizations and their approach to helping American public schools.

In part one, he writes that Teach for America, which recruits college graduates and others to work as teachers in inner-city schools, does not train its recruits well enough for the difficult situations they will face. What’s more, he writes it fails to attack the real cause of failing schools: poverty.

“First and foremost, TFA leaves unchallenged the urban reality of schools that are largely or entirely segregated by income and race, preferring instead to focus on interventions that do not challenge the poverty that is the root of test score gaps to begin with,” he writes.

In part two, he writes that the ...

With the world’s economic crisis grabbing the headlines, observers wondered: would philanthropy be played down during the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland?

For two well-known social activists who attended last week’s meeting, the answer is mixed.

Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, writes that the “embrace of philanthropy … infused much of the conversation at Davos.”

On The Huffington Post, she writes that one discussion, titled “From Philanthrocapitalism to Philanthrocrisis,” attracted a crowd of people and featured a luminary panel of Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Muhammad Yunus, and Jet Li.

“Not a bad little group to have lunch with.” she writes.

But the Rev. Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, an antipoverty group in Washington, writes that the interest in fighting social ills during the event...

Due to a long-planned change in its grant making and depleted assets, the California Endowment is reducing its number of staff members and closing two regional offices.

On his blog, Robert K. Ross, the organization’s chief executive, writes that “a fair amount of change is under way as we position ourselves for a new strategy, and a new set of realities. In the coming weeks we will begin saying ‘goodbye’ to a number of our wonderful California Endowment staff as they transition to new careers and innovative endeavors. As a foundation we are not immune to the reality of a volatile marketplace and the necessity of change and ‘rightsizing’ in order to continue our mission.”

The Los Angeles foundation had previously announced that it would refocus its mission to help impoverished California families be healthier. Previously, the foundation had sought to improve the health-service...

A powerful experience or a grotesque poverty theme park?

Opinions are divided about an effort to get participants at this year’s World Economic Forum, in Davis, Switzerland, to empathize with impoverished refugees.

A so-called refugee run has been set up at the Alps event to allow the wealthy and powerful to experience, if only for an hour or so, what it feels like to live in a refugee camp, cross a minefield, and face an attack by violent rebels.

The simulation was sponsored by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and developed by the Crossroads Foundation, a Hong Kong charity.

For Andrew Ross Sorkin, a reporter for The New York Times, navigating the refugee run at Davos was an eye-opening experience.

“In three different rooms, tents were set up, with chained-link fences and barbed wire surrounding the area to simulate a refugee camp. All participants were...

Clean water and sanitation is not an easy sell.

So says John Sauer, communications director at Water Advocates, a Washington charity that seeks to promote the problems caused by the lack of good plumbing and potable water in poor areas of the world.

On The Huffington Post, Mr. Sauer writes to generate public interest in the 25 or so diseases triggered by unsafe water, they be lumped together under a more eye-grabbing title. He suggests “no-plumbing disease.”

“We would then see that no-plumbing disease kills more children than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and TB combined. We would see the truth of this ugly situation; the relentless outbreaks of diarrhea that, when they don’t kill kids, weaken them month after month — the instances of a single child, for example, suffering a dozen bouts of it per year, the ensuing malnutrition, the family’s economic burden of curing the child, the impact...

A foundation effort to support local news is raising questions about the growing role of philanthropic support for the American press.

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, in Miami, awarded $5-million in grants to 21 projects this month designed to help Americans be better informed about local news. (Read The Chronicle’s article about the program.)

David Westphal, a former newspaper journalist who writes a blog about journalism as a senior fellow for the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Journalism School, in Los Angeles, says the program rankled at least one local newspaper.

The San Antonio Area Foundation received a $488,500 to create Web videos about community stories. “Its proposal,” writes Mr. Westphal, “began this way: ‘Although ranked in the top 50 media markets in the country, San Antonio lacks in-depth news coverage about diverse communities and issues...

Do efforts to prevent climate change need a new public face?

Bill Gates seems to think so.

In his annual letter, which was released this week, the co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation applauds the growing interest in climate change because droughts, floods, and other extreme weather conditions will primarily hurt people in impoverished countries.

“The negative effects will fall almost entirely on the poor, even though they did not cause the problem. I hope that the increased public interest in reducing climate change will also increase the political will to provide aid that will help the poor mitigate its negative effects,” he writes.

But he notes that, for the most part, poor people are not identified as the victims of climate change.

“It is interesting how often the impact of climate change is illustrated by talking about the problems the polar bears will...

A video produced by the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, in Nashville, this week won a contest sponsored by Renew America Together, President Barack Obama’s new community-service program, to promote volunteer activities.

The winning video, titled “Yes, we’re cans,” follows a can of chili from purchase at Kroger’s supermarket to being donated to the food bank and distributed to a needy family.

The prize? First lady Michelle Obama will call the chief executive of the food bank to congratulate the organization.

Gara LaMarche, like may Americans, was touched by President Obama’s inauguration this week.

While Mr. LaMarche, who is president of the Atlantic Philanthropies, watched the actual transfer of power on TV, he did come to Washington Monday to soak up the pre-inaugural cheer. And his foundation supported a gala with The Huffington Post to celebrate the change in administration.

“I’ve never been to, say, the Vanity Fair Oscar Night party, but this was probably a close approximation, though with the likes of Tim Geithner and Larry Summers mingling with Will-I-Am, Sharon Stone, and Larry David,” he writes on his personal blog, the GaraLog. “Or, as The Washington Post put it this morning, ‘Hollywood for Ugly People meets … Hollywood.’”

But more exciting than the swanky party, he writes, was just the spirit in the air.

“From a long and passionate tribute to democracy delivered by...

The singer Bono expresses his excitement for the Obama administration and its potential to fight global poverty in a video on the ONE Campaign’s blog.

Bono praises President Obama’s pledge to double foreign aid during his term despite the economic crisis.

“That will be seriously difficult for him to do in these circumstances, but I think he has a heart for the world’s poor,” the Irish singer says.

Bono also reflects on the performance of his band U2 Sunday at the Lincoln Memorial before the Obamas and a crowd of thousands.

“What a gig for us to play,” he says. “I asked if we could play every Monday night there. That’d be something.”

For more on the new administration, read The Chronicle’s inauguration blog.