Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, along with his wife, Priscilla Chan, are donating $120 million to help San Francisco schools.
In an article from the San Jose Mercury News, Zuckerberg, 30, has announced that he and his wife will be using their education foundation, Startup:Education, to improve public education in the San Francisco area.
The first phase of the grant will use $5 million to provide more reliable connectivity and better computers to students in Redwood City, Ravenswood, and other “high need communities in San Francisco.” The rest of the donation will be used over the next five years.
“Funds will also support leadership opportunities for students, more effective transitions for students moving from middle school to high school, and leadership training for principals,” Zuckerberg says.
Zuckerberg addresses the need for extra support in the Bay area, where students in certain districts are struggling. “Last year in the Ravenswood School District, less than 40% of students were proficient on state tests in English language arts and less than 50% in math,” he says. “This means fewer students from low-income and minority backgrounds graduating from high school or attending and succeeding in college.”
Zuckerberg, a Harvard dropout, is no stranger to making charitable donations. In 2010, he gave $100 million to aid schools in Newark, N.J., as well as 18 million shares of Facebook stock to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation in 2013.
Zuckerberg is excited to share the news. “Education is something worth investing in and if we can help make things better it will make all of our lives better,” he says.