Posted on January 12, 2003

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The Year in Review: Battle to Improve Public Education Joined by Gates, Broad Foundations

Although the drive to raise the performance of the nation's public schools is entering its second decade, the results of two studies released in 2002 by Public Agenda, a New York City-based public opinion research and citizen education organization, indicate that progress on this critical front has been disappointing.

The first, a national survey of 920 high school teachers funded by the Seattle-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, found that teachers in large high schools were more likely to report students dropping out or falling through the cracks than teachers in smaller high schools. At the same time, the survey also revealed that schools of all sizes face similar problems, with fewer than a third of teachers saying they were happy with their schools and only 20 percent reporting that teacher morale was high.

The second study, an update of the annual "Reality Check" series sponsored by Public Agenda and Education Week, found that nearly three-quarters of the college professors and employers surveyed rated the grammar and spelling skills of freshmen/sophomores and recent job applicants as "fair to poor," while an equal number responded similarly when asked to rate their students' and young employees' ability to write clearly.

Undaunted, the Gates Foundation launched an initiative in February to create four to six small high schools in Washington State modeled after San Diego's High Tech High School and, subsequently, announced substantial grants for similar initiatives in Baltimore (in partnership with the Aaron Straus & Lilli Straus Foundation and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, among others), Ohio (in partnership with the Ford Foundation and the Cincinnati-based Knowledgeworks Foundation), New York City (in partnership with the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Open Society Institute), Sacramento, and St. Paul.

In addition, several prominent foundations made sizable grants to support and develop stronger teachers and school leaders. In January, the Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund announced more than $10 million in school leadership grants, including fifteen grants of at least $500,000 each to New York City and Kentucky school districts as part of its LEADERS Count initiative. In April, Carnegie announced a $40 million initiative designed to strengthen K-12 education through improved education programs at colleges and universities. And in March, the Los Angeles-based Broad Foundation announced a $300 million infusion from founders Eli and Edythe Broad, who made it clear that they planned to use the additional funds to expand their commitment to improving the performance of urban K-12 public schools.

"Ensuring achievement in America's urban public schools is the most important civil rights issue of the new century," said Eli Broad in announcing, in October, that the Houston Independent School District had been awarded the inaugural Broad Prize for Urban Education. The prize, along with $500,000 in scholarship funds and four runner-up awards of $125,000 each, will be given annually in recognition of the achievements of the top five performing urban school districts in the country.

Related News:

Wallace-Reader’s Digest Funds Announce More Than $10 Million in School Leadership Grants (1/10/02)

Study Finds Students in Large High Schools More Likely to Fall Through the Cracks (2/23/02)

Gates Foundation Launches New Initiative to Create Small Schools in Washington State (2/20/02)

KnowlegeWorks, Gates, and Ford Foundations Award $31.5 Million for Ohio Education Initiatives (3/14/02)

Broad Foundation Receives $300 Million Infusion from Founders, Establishes New Education Achievement Prize (3/18/02)

Gates Foundation Launches $40 Million Early College Initiative (3/20/02)

Three Foundations Give $30 Million to Create Small High Schools in New York City (4/12/02)

Carnegie Corporation Invites Universities to Submit Proposals for Teacher Reform Initiative (4/12/02)

Broad Foundation Commits $10.5 Million for Charter School Management Initiative (4/13/02)

National Governors Association and Broad Foundation Launch Initiative to Improve Schools (7/17/02)

Ford Foundation Gives $2.5 Million for Teacher Education Initiative (8/02/02)

Sacramento School District Receives $4 Million from Gates Foundation for Small High Schools (8/15/02)

Broad Foundation Gives $4.74 Million for New California Charter Schools/b> (12/13/02)