Education Donors Make Teacher Recruitment a Priority, Study Finds

Recruiting a new generation of educators was the top priority of donors who gave $684-million from 2000 to 2008 to organizations that seek to improve education, The Washington Post writes.

A study by University of Georgia researchers, the first comprehensive breakdown of philanthropy related to teaching, found that 38 percent of the funds went to attracting new instructors, compared with 22 percent for professional development and 14 percent for teacher preparation.

By far the biggest recipient was Teach for America, which collected $213.4-million in donations over the nine years. The top donors were the Carnegie Corporation of New York ($82-million) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation ($78.2-million).

The donation pattern “underscores the current trend in school reform to bring teachers into schools through alternative certification models that bypass traditional years-long teaching programs,” writes The Post, and reflects a consensus between wealthy philanthropists and Education Secretary Arne Duncan on education improvements.