Silicon Valley Shakes Stingy Reputation With Increased Philanthropy
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – High tech entrepreneurs are finally shaking their stingy reputation, giving away their Silicon Valley millions at an unprecedented rate. Recent high profile donations – including billions for education and health care from Microsoft Corp.‘s Bill and Melinda Gates, $150 million to Stanford University from Netscape founder Jim Clark and another $100 million to University of Mississippi from former Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale—are setting examples for young high tech entrepreneurs.
NewSchools Summit Applies New Economy Learning to Education Ventures
Summit Brings Together Technology and Education Entrepreneurs, Educators, Investors and Analysts to Determine Best Ways to Improve Public Education
PALO ALTO, Calif., November 18, 1999 – Today our “New Economy” – driven by innovation and knowledge – is fueling economic growth. Despite this progress, our public schools are in crisis. A recent study found that 59% of all third graders in California read below grade level. Preparing students to survive in today’s knowledge-based economy requires a dynamic education system that can respond and grow with this New Economy.
“The Education Reformers of Silicon Valley”
For an individual such as Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who’s said to be worth $17 billion, an investment of a few million here or there is not a make-or-break proposition.
But Allen’s decision to put $30 million into the for-profit Edison Project, which now has contracts to run 51 public schools and is poised to take on 26 more this fall, may be more than just another high-risk plunge by an audacious financial plunger.
Education Entrepreneurs: New Schools Fund Hopes to Distribute $20 Million for Education
Some of Silicon Valley’s most savvy venture capitalists are about to test whether the same techniques that nurtured the nation’s high-tech industry to success can be used to help educate the nation’s children.
Alternatives to Standardized Tests
Critics of standardized tests are often asked, “What’s your alternative?” It’s a legitimate —and important — question. Parents and community members have the right to know how well their children are learning.
Unfortunately, in part due to rhetoric that equates high standards with standardized tests, many parents believe that standardized tests will give them the answer. At the same time, parents are often the first to understand that the complexity of their child cannot be captured by a test score.
John Doerr on education
Conventional wisdom says the only thing rarer in Silicon Valley than political activism is political consensus. In this case, conventional wisdom is correct. Which is why what happened last April 2 was nothing short of extraordinary.
On one coast, at San Jose’s Stonesgate Elementary School, Jim Barksdale spoke for a group of high-technology executives that included Gil Amelio, Eric Benhamou, John Chambers, Bernie Gifford, Andy Grove, Brian Halla, Floyd Kvamme, Scott McNealy, John Morgridge, Les Vadasz, and Jerry Yang.