Leading Insurance Company’s Gift to Support the Recruitment, Training, and Professional Development of Teachers in Nine Communities Across the Country
For Immediate Release
Contact: Danielle Montoya | Teach For America
646.761.2681 | danielle.montoya@teachforamerica.org
NEW YORK CITY, June 14, 2011— State Farm has pledged $1.5 million to Teach For America in support of the national nonprofit’s efforts to close the achievement gap in our country, bringing State Farm’s total giving to $3.9 million since 2008. Teach For America recruits, trains, and supports top college graduates and professionals who commit to teach for two years in under-resourced schools and become lifelong leaders in the pursuit of educational equity.
The funds will support Teach For America’s national operations and the impact of Teach For America corps members and alumni in nine regions: Dallas, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Phoenix, South Dakota, the Rio Grade Valley in Texas, and Washington, D.C. In each of these regions, State Farm is among the lead donors.
“We’re so grateful for State Farm’s leadership in supporting Teach For America corps members and alumni as they work alongside other committed educators to ensure that all of our children are prepared to realize their dreams,” said Wendy Kopp, CEO and founder of Teach For America. “State Farm’s generous engagement over the past three years has enabled Teach For America to grow our impact significantly by enlisting more outstanding recent graduates and young professionals in the movement to expand educational opportunity and impacting thousands more students in our highest-need schools.”
State Farm has been one of Teach For America’s National Champion Investors since 2009. National Champion Investors provide annual support of $1 million or more, and others include Fidelity Investments, Glenview Capital, Google Inc., The Medtronic Foundation, Visa Inc., and Wells Fargo.
“Our work with Teach For America underscores our belief that a critical factor in improving student performance is a high-quality teacher in every classroom,” said Ed Rust Jr., chairman and CEO of State Farm. “Teach For America’s focus on using student data to inform classroom instruction enables their teachers, who teach in our highest-need schools, to continuously increase their effectiveness and impact.”
Since its founding in 1990, Teach For America’s network has grown to 33,000 people. This fall, more than 9,000 corps members will be teaching in 43 regions across the country while nearly 24,000 alumni continue to work in a variety of professional sectors to expand opportunities for kids growing up in low-income communities.
A growing body of rigorous research demonstrates the effectiveness of Teach For America corps members in the classroom. Recent studies from Louisiana, North Carolina and Tennessee found that corps members have a positive impact on student achievement. The Tennessee study identified Teach For America as the most effective of the state’s 42 teacher-preparation programs, with corps members demonstrating a greater impact on student achievement than the average new teacher in every evaluated subject area.
About Teach For America
Teach For America is the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates who commit to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity. This fall, more than 9,000 corps members will be teaching in 43 regions across the country, while nearly 24,000 Teach For America alumni continue working from inside and outside the field of education for the fundamental changes necessary to ensure educational excellence and equity. For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.org.
About State Farm
State Farm insures more cars and homes than any other insurer in the U.S., is the leading insurer of watercraft and is also a leading insurer in Canada. Our 17,800 agents and more than 66,000 employees serve 81 million policies and accounts – more than 79 million auto, fire, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and nearly 2 million bank accounts. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 34 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit statefarm.com© or in Canada statefarm.ca©.
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