At the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we believe every student deserves a great education, and we’re taking a step forward to support students with mild and moderate disabilities in charter schools.
We are investing over $10 million to launch the Charter Students with Disabilities Pilot Community — a cohort of 10 charter management organizations (CMO) that will work together with a common aim of improving the systems, learning experiences, and outcomes for their middle and high school students with disabilities. These grantees join additional partners who work on behalf of students in special education like the National Center for Learning Disabilities, Eye to Eye, The Center for Special Education in Charter Schools, among others. You can learn more about the Pilot Community here.
In this initial phase, we will focus on charter schools. We believe that the charter sector — with its origins as innovators for the education field — can leverage its autonomy, flexibility, and commitment to equity to address this challenge. This is a small part of our larger portfolio across all sectors designed to identify, implement, and adapt evidence-based practices that positively move the needle and ensure ALL students are successful.
I’m excited to learn from our grantees — and to move closer to the day when students with disabilities get the education they deserve.
Regards,
Bob Hughes
@BobHughesK12
Spotlight
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