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Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Meg Whitman funds charter expansion | Thoughts on Public Education

Meg Whitman funds charter expansion | Thoughts on Public Education:

Meg Whitman funds charter expansion

Gives up to $5 million for 10 more Summit high schools
By John Fensterwald - Educated Guess

GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman vowed to promote the growth of charter schools. Private citizen Whitman made good on the promise Tuesday, donating $2.5 million toSummit Public Schools to start 10 more high-performing charter high schools in low-achieving areas in Silicon Valley, with a promise to double that amount if other tech titans match her $2.5 million.

For Whitman, who spent $144 million of her own money in losing to Jerry Brown in 2010, the donation marks the first sizable gift from The Whitman-Harsh Family Foundation, which she established five years ago with her husband, physician Griffith Harsh. Last week, she also donated $500,000 to Los Angeles Unified to extend web-based math instruction software