Channeling Facebook into checkbook: Zuckerbergs to donate billions

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1 Channeling Facebook into checkbook: Zuckerbergs to donate billions By Washington Post, adapted by Newsela staff on Word Count 814 In this undated photo provided by Mark Zuckerberg (left), Max Chan Zuckerberg is held by her parents, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan Zuckerberg. Facebook CEO Zuckerberg and his wife announced the birth of their daughter and plans to donate most of their wealth to a new organization that will tackle a broad range of the world's ills. Photo: Mark Zuckerberg via AP Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg announced that he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, will donate 99 percent of their Facebook stock to charity. Their promised gift would be one of the largest charitable donations ever made. Together, the couple's shares are currently worth about $45 billion. Zuckerberg made the announcement Tuesday in an open letter addressed to the couple's first child, a daughter named Max, who was born in November. Her birth, he said, was the couple's motivation for dedicating their considerable wealth to charitable causes now. He and his wife did not want to wait to "advance human potential and promote equality for all children." "I will continue to serve as Facebook's CEO for many, many years to come," Zuckerberg wrote, but "these issues are too important to wait until you or we are older to begin this work."

2 The money will be channeled into the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a newly formed group that initially will focus on education and health. It was also clear from Zuckerberg's letter that he and his wife had learned lessons from earlier philanthropic attempts and will move in a new direction. Zuckerberg's announcement stands out because of his relative youth he is just 31 and the gift's massive size. The donation also comes at a time when the world's wealthiest business leaders seem to be challenging one another to give away their fortunes before they die. Following In Some Generous Footsteps In 2010, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett publicly launched the Giving Pledge to encourage billionaires to donate the bulk of their wealth to charity. Gates, the former Microsoft leader, has already donated $31.5 billion, mostly to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Buffett has donated more than $22 billion of his Berkshire Hathaway stock and plans to give away nearly his entire fortune. More than 130 billionaires worldwide have joined them. Among them is Judy Faulkner, founder of the electronic health-records company Epic, who said she plans to give away 99 percent of her money. Also this year, Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the richest men in the world, said the pledge inspired him to eventually give away his entire fortune, more than $30 billion. Zuckerberg quietly committed weeks ago to this pledge, too. However, his Nov. 9 Giving Pledge letter did not reveal the scale of his intentions. First Gifts: $1 Billion Annually The Facebook co-founder will start by giving away up to $1 billion a year in Facebook stock for the first three years. "He clearly wants to be perceived as a leader of his generation in the same way as Buffett and Gates are theirs," said Richard Marker of the New York advisory firm Wise Philanthropy. The couple revealed their plans in a lengthy "letter to our daughter" published on Facebook, the social network Zuckerberg co-founded while a student at Harvard University. Today Facebook has 1.5 billion monthly active users worldwide. Their daughter's full name is Maxima Chan Zuckerberg. She was born just before Thanksgiving, weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces. Using Technology To Change Learning In the open letter, Zuckerberg and Chan talked about the potential that technology offers to re-engineer the way children learn.

3 "Our generation grew up in classrooms where we all learned the same things at the same pace regardless of our interests or needs," they wrote. Zuckerberg and Chan have given $15 million to AltSchool, a for-profit corporation that works to create a network of schools that use technology to personalize instruction. The couple also has given $120 million to traditional public schools and public charter schools in the San Francisco area. However, Zuckerberg's first attempt to donate money toward improving education was in itself a learning experience. In 2010, he gave $100 million to remake public schools in Newark, New Jersey, with mixed results. Critics of that effort said the plan, which called for wholesale changes in the city's public schools, faltered in part because it was a top-down approach. It was crafted by outsiders, not community members who knew the school system's problems firsthand, they said. Working With Education Communities In their letter to Max, Zuckerberg and Chan talked about learning from mistakes. "Your mother and I have both taught students and we've seen what it takes to make this work. It will take working with the strongest leaders in education to help schools around the world adopt personalized learning. It will take engaging with communities, which is why we're starting in our San Francisco Bay Area community." Zuckerberg and Chan, a pediatrician and onetime teacher, plan to open a private, tuitionfree school for low-income children in East Palo Alto, California. The school will integrate health care and support for families with classroom learning. Although the letter to Max was obviously intended for a wide audience, the couple ended the note in a personal, quiet fashion. It was signed simply: "Love, Mom and Dad."

4 Quiz 1 How does the author develop the MAIN idea of the article? by giving historical information about education in the United States and quotes from education professionals by using statistics about the problems in the education system and information about other wealthy donors by explaining the Zuckerbergs' reasons for their decision and some details about how they plan to use their money by building a detailed portrait of Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan and a history of their educational backgrounds 2 Which of the following statements BEST represents the Zuckerbergs' approach toward reforming education in the article? They think it is important to work alongside other educators and community members, and kids learn better when they learn at their own pace. They believe that they know more than most teachers and educators about how to fix education, since they are so successful and wealthy. They learned a lot from working in New Jersey schools, and they want to offer the same individualized approach to San Francisco schools. They believe it is important to think on a large scale when trying to reform a system; that is why they are going to help all states move toward an individualized system within the first three years. 3 Read the selection from the article. "Our generation grew up in classrooms where we all learned the same things at the same pace regardless of our interests or needs," they wrote. Zuckerberg and Chan have given $15 million to AltSchool, a for-profit corporation that works to create a network of schools that use technology to personalize instruction. What does the author mean by "personalize instruction"? having every student work on a computer instead of with a teacher using technology to allow students to work at their own speed and interests using technology at home, so students no longer need to come to school letting students use applications like Facebook during school, as a way to learn

5 4 Read the selection from the article. Zuckerberg quietly committed weeks ago to this pledge, too. However, his Nov. 9 Giving Pledge letter did not reveal the scale of his intentions. Which of the following could be used instead of "scale"? large size background mixed impact measurement system

6 Answer Key 1 How does the author develop the MAIN idea of the article? by giving historical information about education in the United States and quotes from education professionals by using statistics about the problems in the education system and information about other wealthy donors by explaining the Zuckerbergs' reasons for their decision and some details about how they plan to use their money by building a detailed portrait of Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan and a history of their educational backgrounds 2 Which of the following statements BEST represents the Zuckerbergs' approach toward reforming education in the article? They think it is important to work alongside other educators and community members, and kids learn better when they learn at their own pace. They believe that they know more than most teachers and educators about how to fix education, since they are so successful and wealthy. They learned a lot from working in New Jersey schools, and they want to offer the same individualized approach to San Francisco schools. They believe it is important to think on a large scale when trying to reform a system; that is why they are going to help all states move toward an individualized system within the first three years.