Gates foundation gives $10 million to 3 Chicago schools

 The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will give more than $10 million to help convert three underperforming Chicago high schools into teacher training centers, officials announced recently. News of the donation comes following a proposal to close a half dozen Chicago schools because of low enrollment and to turn around eight more struggling schools by replacing virtually all staff by September, reports the Chicago Tribune. Gates Foundation officials  announced that they will give $10.3 million in grants to the Academy for Urban School Leadership. The academy has partnered with the school district to manage eight schools, five of which also are training sites for teachers entering struggling schools, said Executive Director Don Feinstein. Some of the money would help fund the academy's takeover of Orr High School on the West Side and two of its feeder schools, Howe Elementary and Morton Elementary. Under the district's plan, which is expected to be approved by the Chicago Board of Education this month, the staff at all three schools would need to reapply for their jobs. Feinstein said the other two high schools to benefit must be chosen. The announcement was scheduled to occur at the Sherman School of Excellence in Englewood, which the academy took over in 2006. "We're grateful for the trust and recognition they've given to us," Feinstein said. The money also would go to improve the teacher training sites, which by September will include Collins Academy High School. The Gates Foundation also issued nearly $1 million to the academy in 2006 to turn around Collins.

— Teachers of Color