Education

Grasping a handful of balloons, special education teacher Denise Dudley was reeling from a small surprise celebration honoring her as Teacher of the Year by the Arc of Dallas.

As several of her fellow teachers looked on and cheered, Dudley was honored with two checks, each for $1,500 – one for her personal use, and the other for the district's special education programs.

Months after winning $700 million in the federal Race to the Top competition, New York state's education department says it needs another $18 million, and is turning to foundations, hedge fund managers and other private donors for the money.

The $18 million will pay for systems, technology and research that will help ensure that the state spends the $700 million effectively, education department officials said. 

The General Motors Foundation plans to give $27.1 million -- the largest donation in its 34-year history -- to the United Way for Southeastern Michigan to help increase graduation rates and rebuild the area's skilled work force, the organizations announced Friday.

The money will go toward creating what's known as a Network of Excellence.

The network will choose five high schools from which to create up to 20 academies along with establishing five early learning communities to help get young children ready for kindergarten.

Chris Ulmer turned his passion for running into a fundraising drive for Teach for America, asking supporters to donate money for each one of the 250 miles he plans to run from Penn State to his home in Willow Grove, Pa., upon graduation.

Measured by the bottom line, a merger between White-Williams Scholars and Philadelphia Futures seems hardly noteworthy.

After all, the two Philadelphia nonprofit groups are worth barely $12 million, couch-cushion change when compared, say, with the $68 billion Pfizer Inc. spent to buy Wyeth last year.

Still, the thought of a marriage of the two college-prep programs gave Susan Segal goose bumps.

The merger will mark a rare coming together of two well-established and financially stable nonprofit organizations with a goal of serving more students more effectively.

Generous impulses often are described in fundraising appeals, conversation and greeting cards as coming "from the heart." In fact, the origins of giving probably are deep in the brain's circuitry.

The University of Notre Dame is leading a new research initiative that will merge economic, sociological, neurological and psychological studies to explain why some people give and some don't.

The Virginia Early Childhood Foundation (VECF) announced today that the Danville Regional Foundation (DRF) has awarded an unprecedented five-year grant of over $5.4 million for Smart Beginnings Danville-Pittsylvania County to dramatically expand the region’s commitment to school readiness for thousands of young children.

A $15 million gift to Rice University will allow it to expand its signature urban research project to cities around the world.

Versions of the Houston Area Survey, which has documented demographic and cultural shifts in Houston for almost 30 years, will be conducted in cities around the United States, as well as those in other countries.

Drexel University on Tuesday morning will announce a whopping $45 million gift from corporate executive and alumnus Bennett S. LeBow for a new academic center for its business school, which already bears his name.

It's Drexel's largest gift from a single donor and the 12th largest to be made to a U.S. business school, Drexel officials said.

Toronto Community Foundation head discusses the organizations unique business model and being named "Outstanding Foundation" by the AFP Greater Toronto.