Billionaire Mike Bloomberg is investing $250 million to support the opening of 10 healthcare high schools in the United States, including one in Dallas.
The educational establishments that will be built using the entrepreneur's contribution will focus on the healthcare industry. Baylor Scott & White Health and the public charter school system Uplift Education will collaborate in North Texas.
They will work on transforming West Dallas' Uplift Heights Preparatory into a healthcare-focused campus. They will also be working to establish a health science pathway at Grand Prairie's Uplift Grand Preparatory.
In a joint statement, leaders from Baylor Scott & White and Uplift said that the innovative programs have the potential to change the trajectory of young lives and the economic health of families and neighborhoods that they serve.
The local partnership is expected to receive roughly $14.6 million from the entire pool of investments in order to roll out its offerings to the public. It is one of two in Texas, the other being the Memorial Health System and Aldine ISD opening a high school in the Houston area, as per NBCDFW.
Students who attend the school will get training, credentials, and experience in areas such as surgical technologists, radiology technicians, and respiratory therapists. These will be possible through dedicated high schools and new pathways made available by Bloomberg's investment.
Officials are also seeking to get students working with partner healthcare providers straight after graduating from their schools. This is also true in Boston, where public school students will have a direct route to guaranteed jobs in the city's largest employer, the Mass General Brigham health system.
The state will receive roughly $38 million from Bloomberg's investment that will transform a small existing high school into an 800-student feeder for the sprawling Mass General System. The latter is currently suffering from roughly 2,000 job vacancies.
Bloomberg's $250 million investment will be given over five years to provide students with college credits as they train for careers in nursing, emergency medicine, lab science, medical imaging, and surgery, according to the New York Times.
New Healthcare Program
The education program lead at Bloomberg Philanthropies, Howard Wolfson said that there is a growing sense that the value of college has diminished, relative to cost. He argued that people should not take this as anti-college but only acknowledge that a lot of kids do not have college as an option.
Under the program, students will be given the opportunity to choose a specialty by the end of 10th grade. They will then spend their time as juniors and seniors training in hospital labs, emergency departments, and other such settings.
The school in Boston that will be transformed is the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers. Boston Public School Superintendent Mary Skipper said that EMK serves as a blueprint and model.
She noted that this is true not only for other Boston Public Schools but also for the rest of the nation. It would show what can happen when you get philanthropy and a strong partner such as Mass General Brigham in developing an interest in an industry as important as medical care, said WBUR.
