Grantmakers in the News

The GE Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the General Electric Company, has announced a five-year, $22 million grant to Atlanta Public Schools.

The largest private grant in the school district's history is designed to improve student achievement and increase college readiness through a comprehensive collaboration between school, business, and community. The grant will also be used to develop a rigorous, system-wide math and science curriculum and provide comprehensive professional development for teachers. In partnership with the schools, volunteers from GE's Infrastructure and Energy divisions will share their real-world knowledge of technology, math, and science with students.

Through more hands-on instruction, students will learn from teachers and GE Volunteers as they work together on special mathematics and science projects involving real-world challenges. While APS student performance in math and science has improved in grades 1-12 over the past seven years, overall student performance in math and science still lags behind other subjects.

The grant is the fifth of its kind from the GE Foundation, which has invested more than $100 million in the College Bound District Program since its 2005 launch. An expansion of the foundation's College Bound program, the district program aims to increase college-readiness and achieve systemic change across entire school districts. In addition to Atlanta, the foundation has awarded grants to school districts in Cincinnati; Erie, Pennsylvania; Louisville, Kentucky; and Stamford, Connecticut.

"The GE Foundation will play a key role in changing, for the better, the lives of fifty-one thousand children who attend Atlanta Public Schools," said superintendent Dr. Beverly L. Hall. "Our children will learn math and science from real-life examples. As the world relies more and more on technology and analysis, hands-on experience is the best way to learn. We thank the GE Foundation for the opportunities this grant will allow — not only over the next five years, but for the lifetime of our children."

The award culminates the GE Foundation’s long history of working with Atlanta Public Schools. In 1995, the Foundation helped Southside Comprehensive High School with "Partners in Education," a volunteer program designed to improve academic performance of students. In 2002, the GE Foundation awarded Southside a five-year, $1 million “College Bound” grant to increase its college entrance rate.

“Our connection with the Atlanta community is strong and this grant makes it even stronger,” GE Vice Chairman and President of Atlanta-based GE Energy John Rice said.“Our employees are a significant resource for Atlanta’s students. We are committed to helping them learning about engineering, science, math and technology. We want them to be competitive in the global work place. The better off they are today, the better off we all will be tomorrow.”

The College Bound District Program enables school districts to improve in six areas: curriculum, professional development, management capacity, constituency engagement, GE volunteers, and evaluation. For more information on the College Bound Program, go to http://www.ge.com/foundation.