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October 03, 2009

Philanthropy Roundtable
Donors Urged to Back 'Disruptive' Education Charities

Michael L. Lomax, chief executive of the United Negro College Fund, called on philanthropists to support new nonprofit efforts that seek radical changes in the U.S. school system.

“The role of philanthropy is to invest in the innovative disruptive model,” he told participants at the Philanthropy Roundtable.

He specifically pointed to Teach for America, which recruits college graduates to teach in public schools, and the Knowledge Is Power Program, or KIPP, which is a network of charter schools.

Teach for America, in New York, is training a new generation of educators who challenge the orthodoxy of public education, said Mr. Lomax, adding that traditional teacher colleges are “guardians of the status quo.”

He said KIPP has shown that students from poor and minority neighborhoods can achieve academic success when held to high standards.

In addition to those programs, he suggested donors and foundations help to build support for education changes among the impoverished parents whose children are the ones the school system is failing.

“The big missing ingredient is a broad base of public outrage,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure parents are informed.”

— Ian Wilhelm

Saturday October 3, 2009 | Permalink

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