FPN Education Funders Affinity
Group
Through the years, FPN members have expressed concern about the
state of public education in Florida, noting the state’s
consistently low rankings on various measures and the challenges of
providing adequate public funding. In 2009, a group of FPN members
joined together to create the informal Education Funders Affinity
Group, with the goal of building stronger partnerships with
government around education policy in Florida. FPN's Education
Funders Affinity Group members include:
> Bank of America
> Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation
>
The Chartrand Foundation
>
The Community Foundation in Jacksonville
> Community Foundation
of Broward
> Community
Foundation of Collier County
> Conn
Memorial Foundation
>
Darden Restaurants Foundation
> The Dr. P. Phillips Foundation
> Gulf Coast
Community Foundation
>
Helios Education Foundation
>
A.D. Henderson Foundation
>
Jessie Ball duPont Fund
> John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
> JPMorgan Chase
> Quantum Foundation
> Southwest Florida
Community Foundation
>
Wells Fargo
>
Marie C. & Joseph C. Wilson Foundation
Reports
|
> |
Philanthropy & Public Education: Partnering in the
Sunshine State (PDF)
This 12-page white paper,
developed by FPN's Education Funders Affinity Group,
describes the valuable role that philanthropy plays in
public education in Florida. It explains how
philanthropy can best help policymakers in improving
public education - with expertise, connections,
reputation & convening power, and as risk takers - and
provides some profiles of how foundations are working
across the state to help strengthen public education. |
Issue Briefs
These two-page Issue Briefs describe the perspectives of FPN's
Education Funders Affinity Group on key public education issues:
|
> |
Issue Brief: Providing Adequate Resources
(PDF)
While Floridians receive an abundance of information
on government spending on public education, we know
little about how much we should be spending, or whether
we are spending our public dollars wisely. State
policymakers should invest greater effort in determining
how current dollars are spent and how spending might be
altered for greater effectiveness. Additionally,
policymakers should work to identify a dedicated,
sustainable source of revenue for public education. |
| |
|
|
> |
Issue Brief: Accelerating STEM Education (PDF)
Improving STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering &
Math) education in Florida demands a systemic approach,
addressing the continuum from teacher training and
preparation, to classroom resources and curricula, to
assessment and evaluation. We must focus on
approaches that are grounded in research and change how
and what teachers teach, making STEM a robust component
of a balanced curriculum that results in students who
can compete in a global, 21st-century economy. |
| |
|
|
> |
Issue Brief: Ensuring Teacher Accountability (PDF)
Teacher accountability should be part of a broader
system of human capital management in public education.
School districts should implement, and the state should
encourage, systems that not only measure teachers’
year-to-year performance, but that adequately prepare
teachers, provide them with rich professional
development opportunities and create a challenging
career ladder, all while facilitating the process of
recruiting, evaluation, rewarding and retaining
effective teachers. |
Activities
The work of FPN's Education Funders Affinity Group is supported
in part through the generosity of the
Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation and the
Helios Education Foundation.
