Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Lake Wales News > Opinion > Our Viewpoint > Gates project could trigger school reform


Lake Wales News > Opinion > Our Viewpoint > Gates project could trigger school reform:


"One of the biggest education stories in Florida may have gotten short shrift from the media last month.

That's the decision by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to give $100 million in grants to the Hillsborough County school district to develop innovative ways to improve teacher effectiveness.

The foundation announced it was investing a total of $335 million in three public school districts and five charter school networks in Los Angeles.

According the Washington Post, this is equivalent to the size of the Obama administration's school reform efforts, so it's a big deal.

The largest grant went to Hillsborough. The district is the eighth largest school district in the country, with 191,000 students in an area roughly the size of Rhode Island."