The White House has announced that commitments totaling $118 million were made during President Obama's meeting with a group of the nation's top business and nonprofit leaders on Monday for efforts to improve public education across the country.
Pledges announced at the meeting include a three-year, $50 million commitment from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation in support of efforts to close the achievement gap and connect underserved and unemployed individuals to workforce success. As part of the commitment, the foundation announced a total of $4.5 million in grants to five nonprofit organizations, including $1 million to Citizen Schools to improve the academic performance and high-school readiness of low-income middle school students by expanding the learning day and providing academic support, leadership development, and hands-on learning projects; $1 million to Boston College's Lynch School of Education to support thirty Bank of America Leaders in Urban Education in the school's Masters of Ed Program; $1 million to City Year to fund middle school programs that support its Whole School, Whole Child strategy in high-need schools nationwide; $1 million to the GreenLight Fund to support high-impact education and youth development programs in Philadelphia and the San Francisco Bay Area; and $500,000 toAchieving the Dream to help establish a learning community complete with asset-building tools and resources that can be disseminated nationally.
Also at the meeting, America's Promise Alliance announced the launch of a $50 million fund to support efforts to engage communities in dropout prevention; Microsoft pledged $15 million toward the development of new educational technologies, including videogame-based learning tools; and the Nike School Innovation Fund committed an additional $3 million to support students, teachers and principals across Oregon's education system.
"A world-class education is the single most important factor in determining not just whether our kids can compete for the best jobs but whether America can outcompete countries around the world," said President Obama. "America's business leaders understand that when it comes to education, we need to up our game. That's why we're working together to put an outstanding education within reach for every child."
“President Obama Meets With Powells and Leading CEOs on Making Investments to Ensure a Competitive US Workforce.” White House Press Release 7/18/11.“Bank of America Charitable Foundation Announces $50 Million Three-Year Pledge to Education as a Path to Workforce Success.”Bank of America Charitable Foundation Press Release 7/18/11.
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