SCHOOLS' BANKROLL CALL REAPS $175M
By DAVID ANDREATTA, NY POST, October 11, 2004

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October 10, 2004 -- Private donations to city public schools in the last two years have injected a staggering $175 million into the cash-strapped coffers of the Department of Education - enough to run seven large high schools for a year, officials say.
While the school system has always benefited from private-sector money, officials and philanthropists believe the outpouring of support in so short a time has shattered records and set a new standard for public-private partnerships in urban education.

In 2002, the department's fund-raising arm, the Fund for Public Schools, collected around $9 million, most of it from 9/11 funds. Prior to that, fund executives said, it was rare to raise more than $2 million or so a year.

"Historically, if they got $10 million a year, it was a lot," said Kathryn Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, a coalition of businesses leaders who raised $30 million to help train principals. "Frankly, it used to be considered a chancellor's slush fund."

That perception has changed, Wylde said.

In the last month alone, various companies and wealthy individuals have pledged nearly $22 million in cash and gifts to city students. The largest of those gifts - $20 million from Hartford financier George Weiss - will help send 400 Harlem kindergarten kids to college.

And a three-day tag sale starting Friday in Central Park is expected to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars. Up for grabs are clothing and household items donated by celebrities and athletes, such as Bette Midler and Yankee Gary Sheffield.

Other notables who gave or raised money include:

* Bill Gates donated $57.5 million to build small schools, the largest single gift ever to city schools.

* Rosie O'Donnell gave $1 million to encourage parent involvement.

* Sean "P. Diddy" Combs raised $1 million for middle-school libraries.

* Dave Matthews raised $1 million for music studies.

The school system, with a $12.5 billion budget and 1.1 million students, can use the help. One in four schools do not meet federal academic standards, three out of four are overcrowded, and high schools complain that budget shortfalls force them to drop classes.

Those problems have raised awareness, but fund-raisers say the real shot in the arm has been the combination of school reform under Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and Mayor Bloomberg - himself a major philanthropist - and a new emphasis on soliciting private donations.

The changes and the recruitment of high-profile public figures such as Caroline Kennedy and Sarah Jessica Parker to plead the schools' case has restored public confidence in the system, fund-raisers said.

Leslie Koch, CEO of the Fund for Public Schools, said the newly established chain of command in city schools - from the mayor to the chancellor to principals - has been critical to private-sector support.

"When these people make a contribution, they want to know where their money is going," Koch said.