September 25, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
Philanthropist Eli Broad promised $6-million to develop a new education research center at Harvard University today as part of the Clinton Global Initiative.
The Education Innovation Laboratory, or EdLabs, will foster new ways to solve problems with K-12 education, such as racial inequity in graduation rates, and rigorously study the programs that do work, said Mr. Broad.
“The National Institutes of Health is the engine for scientific and medical research, and the Defense Advanced Research Project develops innovations in technology and security, but K-12 education has no R&D agency,” he said.
He said no similar effort exists at other higher-education institutions or within the Department of Education.
“It’s a niche that had to be filled,” the donor said.
EdLabs will first work with three school districts — Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C.
“We need to think about innovation in an entirely different way,” said Joel I. Klein, chancellor of the the New York City school system. He thanked Mr. Broad and his wife, Edythe, for their long-term support of U.S. education. “This is not a sexy field for philanthropy,” he said.
