The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded grants totaling $25-million to seven cities to develop programs that forge cooperation between public and charter schools, writes The New York Times.

The support for Boston, Denver, Hartford, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, and Spring Branch, Tex., is to be formally announced Wednesday and will support collaboration on classroom projects, teacher mentoring, and other programs. Advocates for neighborhood schools and publicly funded, privately operated charters are often at odds over issues such as resources and admissions.