Ford Foundation Supports Building Educational Success Together with Renewed Support

April 06, 2006

D.C., Wash. - April 7, 2006 - 21st Century School Fund, a leading provider of school facility solutions and research, announced that it has been awarded 1 million dollars by the Ford Foundation to support its Building Educational Success Together (BEST) initiative.

For over 5 years, the Ford Foundation has supported and recognized BEST’s commitment to improving urban public education for children from low-income families. Support from the Ford Foundation is helping the BEST collaboration continue its research, development of innovative projects and community engagement in government reform to improve urban public education.

“A community’s commitment to its children and high quality education is reflected in the care and attention to the places…the buildings and grounds…that teachers and students are in every day. Facilities matter to teaching, to our neighborhoods, the environment, and child health. We appreciate the understanding that Ford Foundation has in the importance of the school-community relationship and their generous support,” says Mary Filardo, Executive Director for 21st Century School Fund.

21st Century’s BEST collaboration is a structured network of education reform, community development, and civil rights organizations that have collaborated to the need to bring new ideas and energy to the considerable challenges of urban public school quality throughout the nation. The collaborative partners have developed a joint research, constituency building and communications agenda to improve urban school facilities.

The BEST Partners:
• 21st Century School Fund, Washington, DC
• Center For Cities & Schools, University of Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
• Education Law Center, Newark, NJ
• Knowledge Works Foundation, Cincinnati, OH
• National Trust For Historic Preservation, Washington, DC
• National Clearinghouse For Educational Facilities, Washington, DC
• Neighborhood Capital Budget Group, Chicago, IL
• New School Better Neighborhoods, Los Angeles, CA
• New Visions For Public Schools, New York, NY

For more information please visit www.21csf.org.