A group of foundations and business leaders will spend $2.7 million on initiatives aimed at education achievement gaps in Minneapolis.
The group, called Minnesota Comeback, will fund a teacher residency program in Minneapolis Public Schools to develop more minority teachers, further fund two high-performing charter schools and lobby for more state support for nonconventional teacher preparation programs, among other initiatives.
Minnesota Comeback was formed nearly three years ago through the Minneapolis Foundation, and the grants mark the organization's first major donation.
"We envision a day when every child in Minneapolis regardless of their race, income or ZIP code has access to world-class schools," said Al Fan, Minnesota Comeback's executive director, in a statement.
Major donors to the organization include the Piper Family Fund, the Bush Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, Cargill Foundation, Carlson Family Foundation and the Minneapolis Foundation. The organization's board chairs are Tad Piper, the former CEO president of Piper Jaffray, and Chris Smith, of Kipsu, a tech start-up based in Minneapolis.
The organization said it interviewed 150 education and philanthropy leaders, teachers, students, parents and community members to come up with initiatives to increase the number of "high-performing" schools in the city.
The organization then selected five focus areas: schools, talent pipeline, community engagement, policy and facilities.
Minnesota Comeback will give the Minneapolis school district more than more than $500,000 to continue to fund a teacher residency program. The initiative is aimed at helping current Minneapolis staff such as education assistants become licensed teachers.
