The author reports on how cash-strapped school districts turn to outside groups for help in paying for staff and academic essentials, prompting frustration from some. In states and school districts still struggling to recover from recession-induced funding cuts, parent and community groups are feeling the pressure to raise money for instructional…

The author talks about a recent report from the nonprofit group "Grantmakers for Education" which finds that philanthropies nationwide are increasingly getting engaged with education policy matters at the local, state, and federal levels through a range of activities, in recognition of the powerful reach of government in setting…

Amid the country's economic downturn, planned giving levels by many education grantmakers declined last year. A new analysis of trends in education philanthropy finds, however, that a sizable minority of those surveyed said they expected the grants paid out to hold steady, compared with 2008. A smaller group even planned to increase funding. The…

The author reports on a new effort by 12 major education philanthropies that aims to dovetail with the Education Department's "i3" agenda, raising complex issues. The decision by a dozen major education grantmakers to team up on an initiative designed to dovetail with the federal "Investing in Innovation" grant competition is being seen by…

Nearly 2,500 districts, schools, and nonprofits representing every state have indicated they plan to compete for an Investing in Innovation grant, setting up a furious fight over $650 million in federal economic-stimulus money that is designed to scale up creative solutions to education's most vexing problems. The large group of prospective…

Chicago has become a hotbed of "venture philanthropy" in education, as two local foundations contribute not only money, but also the hands-on work of some of the city's wealthiest and most influential residents, to help improve the schools in the nation's third-largest district. These two venture-philanthropy funds consist of the…

This article reports that the recession tearing into the U.S. economy is not only straining the public coffers that support K-12 schooling, it's also taking a toll on education philanthropy. From family foundations to corporate philanthropies, charitable giving to K-12 education appears to be facing a downturn. Although no national figures are…

In 2005, the school choice movement lost one of its leading champions when John T. Walton, an heir to the Wal-Mart retailing fortune, died in a plane crash at age 58. Advocates of expanded educational options say Mr. Walton, more than anyone else, was the driving force behind the Walton Family Foundation's education work, and its focus on…

A growing number of foundations, entrepreneurs, national education groups, and public officials have called in recent months for a stepped-up emphasis on generating findings, programs, and products that practitioners find useful and that will help revolutionize the way America does school. If it takes hold, the new focus represents a break from…

In rolling out plans last week to revamp its high school strategy and launch a major new effort on the postsecondary front, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is undertaking a more sweeping approach to grantmaking that appears aimed at reshaping some core elements of the U.S. education system. The philanthropy's agenda on secondary schools…

Spanish River High School is one of 40 U.S. History Schools and 21 affiliates around the country that get resources and academic support from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. The schools require participating students to take a U.S. history course each year, in addition to any requisites in world history and other subjects. The…

Taking a significant step toward supporting district-level changes, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation last week announced a $21 million grant to help the Chicago school system overhaul teaching and learning in high school classrooms. The effort, which is to start in the fall with 14 schools is slated to reach about half of Chicago's high…

Steeped in a distinctive view of leadership, graduates of the Broad Superintendents Academy have landed some of public education's top jobs. In this article, the author features the Broad Superintendents Academy, a program established by Eli Broad's Foundation which spends roughly $45,000 to train each of the business executives, military…

This article discusses how the philanthropy of Microsoft Corp software magnate co-chairs, Bill Gates and his wife Melinda, are reshaping the American high school nowadays. Gates and his wife have put the issue on the national agenda like never before, with a commitment of more than 1.3 billion US dollars this decade toward the foundation's agenda…

Five years into an eight-year study of its high school improvement efforts, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is shifting its strategy for evaluating the $1.3 billion grant program. The foundation's initiative, which is underwriting change efforts in more than 1,800 schools, is the nation's largest privately funded attempt to improve high…