Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg made an announcement this week that he and wife Priscilla Chan are planning to donate $120 million over the next five years to help underfunded public schools in the Bay Area where they live.
According to an op/ed the couple wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the money will be dispersed through their foundation Startup: Education, and will be used to support student development and new tech in the classrooms. The first five million will be used in several school districts in the San Francisco area in most need of attention including Ravenswood and Redwood City.
The couple writes, “Education is something worth investing in and if we can help make things better it will make all of our lives better.”
Forbes reports the Bay Area donation follows a $100 million dollar investment Zuckerberg pledged to schools in Newark, New Jersey that provided Internet access for K-12 students through a partnership with EducationSuperHighway.
Chan told Today, “We want to continue to be involved in helping improve equality for all of our local kids.”
Zuckerberg, worth $28 million and member of The Giving Pledge, has vowed to give away half of his net worth to charities.