New York City has cancelled a middle school improvement project funded by the largest private grant to city schools in history after two years in. The $18 million grant was funded by General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE), according to a new report from the New York Daily News.
The program was cancelled because the city said that the program could not be replicated city wide.
General Electric’s private foundation says that it will keep funding other projects at city schools, but the money given will no longer focus on middle schools.
Another teacher commented to the NY paper that “it’s going to put a lot of programs down the tubes.”
The grant focused on improving science education in Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood. The money was used to train educators, provide laptops and other high-tech equipment.
Deputy Chancellor Santi Taveras and Chief Accountability Officer Shael Polakow-Suransky emailed educators on Thursday at the 18 schools participating in the program and praised them for their work, stating “Each of you engaged in important work and saw many successes, but the results were not likely sustainable beyond the period of the grant.”
Of the funds remaining from General Electric, $1.1 million will go to the 18 schools to finish up their work. The remaining $8.2 million will be used to create new assessments and teacher training programs in order to prepare students to met new national standards.
