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EducationAdvancing K-12 Education

Advancing K-12 Education

Bloomberg Philanthropies’ efforts to advance education are grounded in the belief that broad coalitions can help put students’ interests first, increasing high school graduation rates, and, ultimately, college enrollment.

Education Reform

The American public education system is in need of comprehensive reform to ensure that all students are able to realize their full potential. Bloomberg Philanthropies is supporting the success and growth of new and existing high-quality charter and autonomous schools, backing strong local education leaders, and helping create city- and state-level conditions to drive and sustain progress. The goal is to help build a stronger and more modern model of public education – one that is based on evidence, centered on children, and governed by accountability and high standards – so that every child has access to a great education.

Advocacy and political activities are supported by Mike Bloomberg personally and are not in any part supported by The Bloomberg Family Foundation.

Summer Boost

Launched in 2022 in New York City and expanded to seven additional U.S. cities in 2023 – Baltimore, Birmingham, Indianapolis, Memphis, Nashville, San Antonio, and Washington, D.C. – Summer Boost is designed to support charter students completing kindergarten through 8th grade in select cities across the nation to accelerate their academic progress in English Language Arts and Math while providing engaging enrichment opportunities in response to COVID-related learning loss. All public charter schools in these cities are eligible to apply for the program to receive up to $2,000 per student to support high-quality summer learning programs.

Results of Summer Boost NYC 2022 show increased student proficiency in both English Language Arts and math. The percentage of students who met standards in math nearly doubled – and in English, it more than doubled. At the same time, the share of students scoring below even the most basic levels of proficiency dropped nearly in half. By the end of the summer session, far more students had caught up to roughly where they needed to be to start the new school year and get back on track for success.

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Global Cities, Inc.

Global Cities, Inc. is a nonprofit dedicated to connecting cities around the world and developing global competence among the next generation through its Global Scholars digital exchange program, which in 2021-22 is connecting 13,600 students in 49 cities. Students ages 10 to 13 have the opportunity to communicate directly with their peers across the globe in e-classrooms.

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Photo credit: John Keith, DC Public Education Fund

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