By Evie Blad For dozens of educational administrators, it felt like winning the lottery without ever buying a ticket: out-ofthe-blue offers of multimillion dollar donations from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott with no strings attached.
The money could be a difference maker for schools, which must weigh layers of restrictions and timelines for how local, state, federal, and private dollars can be spent. And the freedom for recipients to spend it without conditions challenges trends in education philanthropy, a field in which wealthy donors often use their gifts to steer policy and fields of research they personally value, carefully monitoring spending and results. It's very radical, " said Megan Tompkins-Stange, an associate professor of public policy at the University of Michigan who studies education philanthropy.
They didn't even have to apply for the money. They didn't have to prove their need. They can use it however they see fit. In interviews with local news stations, multiple district leaders who received donations said they had to double-check that they weren't the target of prank calls when they first heard of the gifts.
Scott, who started a massive giving campaign after her divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, did not specify how much each district or charter school received, instead listing hundreds of recipients without additional details. But districts themselves have made their own announcements, giving a hint at the scale of the gifts.
The Cleveland and Detroit districts, along with Fresno, Calif. Durham, N. And smaller districts were also included. The 1,student Cushing, Okla. In almost every case, the gifts are the largest private donations the school systems have ever received.
