Gates Foundation Pledges $350-Million to Improve Public-School Education

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged $350-million over the next three years to help improve elementary and secondary schools across the nation, with an initial emphasis on schools in the foundation’s home state of Washington.

Not surprisingly, the foundation’s first major commitment to elementary and secondary schools places heavy emphasis on improving student access to technology and helping teachers and administrators make better use of technology in the classroom.

The new Gates education program is one of the biggest single philanthropic commitments to aid the nation’s elementary and secondary schools, though it falls short of the record set by the retired publishing titan Walter Annenberg, who has channeled $700-million to the public schools since 1993.

However, it comes six months after the Gates Foundation pledged $1-billion for college scholarships for minority students (The Chronicle, September 23).

Tom Vander Ark, the foundation’s executive director for education issues, said last week that he expected education to play a major part in the foundation’s future giving activities, eventually amounting to as much as a fifth or a quarter of its total giving, or roughly $200-million to $250-million a year.

He also said the foundation plans to expand its giving to scholarship programs and other efforts that help more low-income students attend college.

With the exception of a series of grants to states, the new elementary and secondary programs will start in Washington State, and then expand across the country.

The $350-million commitment has four major components:

* $150-million will go to 30 public-school districts over the next three years, to improve the quality of teaching and increase access to technology. Of that sum, $50-million will go to 10 districts in Washington State — including $16-million for the Seattle Public Schools. The remaining $100-million will go to 20 districts elsewhere around the nation.

* $100-million will be distributed to states to provide leadership training for superintendents and principals, and to improve student learning through the use of technology.

* $70-million will be awarded in “teacher leadership grants,” including $45-million for professional-development programs to help 3,000 teachers in Washington use technology to help students meet the state’s new achievement standards. The remaining $25-million will go to other similar professional-development efforts for teachers across the country.

* $30-million will be handed out in grants to 140 individual schools in Washington. Schools will be eligible only if they have at least one teacher who has participated in the foundation’s Teacher Leadership program or similar training elsewhere. The goal is to help those teachers share their expertise with their colleagues.

The first deadline for school districts that want to apply is March 15. Information about eligibility and applications is available on the Gates Foundation’s Web site at http://www.gatesfoundation.org. For additional information, contact the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation at (206) 709-3100; fax (206) 709-3180; e-mail: edinfo@gatesfoundation.org.