Teach For America, the education organization that places recent college graduates in low-income public schools, is getting $100 million to launch its first endowment with the goal of making the organization a permanent fixture in education.
The program announced last week that four philanthropists are joining to create a stable, long-term source of funding. Eli Broad pledged $25 million from his Los Angeles-based Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation; the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, the Robertson Foundation, and philanthropists Steve and Sue Mandel matched the contribution.
Teach For America—which had more than 46,000 applications for 4,400 teaching slots this academic year—says one-third of its alumni are still teaching after two years, and two-thirds remain in the education field.
The endowment is expected to produce about 2 percent of Teach For America’s $200 million budget at first and grow over time.
