The Gift of Education: How a Tuition Guarantee Program Changed the Lives of Inner-city Youth - Softcover

Newberg, Norman A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0791466205 ISBN 13: 9780791466209

Publisher: State University of New York Press, 2006

Synopsis

Tells the story of how two philanthropists promised each of the 112 graduating sixth graders at Belmont Elementary, a school in one of Philadelphia's poorest neighborhoods, a fully paid college education to the institution of their choice.

At the June 17, 1987 sixth-grade graduation ceremony at Belmont Elementary, in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Philadelphia, philanthropists George and Diane Weiss promised each student a fully paid college education to the institution of their choice upon the students' graduation from high school. The Gift of Education describes this chance-of-a-lifetime gift and the pressure to use it. It details and analyzes the experiences of twelve students from the original class-six who graduated from high school and completed some postsecondary education and six who did not finish high school. Their stories illustrate how children, when properly challenged and supported, can succeed, that philanthropy alone cannot address the severe conditions that millions of poor children experience daily, and that government investment in inner-city education and communities has been woefully inadequate.

About this title

About the Author

Michelle Fine is Associate Professor of Psychology in Education at the Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania.

Edition details

• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0791466205
• ISBN 13: 9780791466209
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 244