Gates Foundation program aimed at schools

PITTSBURGH, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- The Gates Foundation is donating millions for teacher improvement in three U.S. school districts and Los Angeles charter schools, officials said Wednesday.

The districts are Pittsburgh, Memphis and Hillsborough County in Florida, which includes Tampa, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also selected Omaha as a finalist, but officials there were reportedly unable to raise the additional money required.

School boards were scheduled to meet Wednesday in Memphis and Pittsburgh to approve participation in the project. The Hillsborough board voted Tuesday to sign the contract with the foundation, which has offered $100 million to the country's eighth largest district, The Tampa Tribune reported.

The foundation, which made a total of $500 million available, plans to use the districts and a consortium of charter schools in Los Angeles as laboratories to determine how teachers can become more effective. In Pittsburgh, the district plans to institute new pay for performance rules, make changes in tenure and begin new recruitment and training efforts.