Memphis stepped to the top of education elite today when the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation offered the city schools a berth in its $500 million effort to improve U.S. teacher quality.
Under a memorandum of understanding the district is asked and foundation plan to sign, the district can expect to receive nearly $100 million over seven years to enhance teacher recruitment, professional development and school leadership.
“This is extraordinarily good news for Memphis City Schools and the city of Memphis,” said Cash from his home late today.
This is excellent news for the city — our schools here in Memphis are in woefully bad shape. I’m hoping this money is handled wisely with oversight from the Gates Foundation. There’s a lot of corruption in Memphis politics, and $100 million is an awful lot of money to keep up with.
On another note, there’s no denying Bill Gates is doing wonderful things with his fortune — which is more than you can say for Steve Jobs. One would hope Jobs and other millionaires in Silicon Valley would take Gates’ lead on programs like this.