A mathematician funds math. education

James Simons pledges anoth 25 million dollars to Math for America. See
http://www.seedmagazine.com/news/2006/09/putting_his_money_where_his_ma.php
Excerpts:
"Math for America addresses a simple, but profound problem: Nearly 40 percent of all public high school math teachers do not have a degree in math or a related field. Even the best curriculum in the world, the reasoning goes, isn't going to inspire students if unqualified individuals are teaching them. (In a recent round of testing, the U.S. placed 24th out of 29 nations in math proficiency.) If knowledgeable teachers exude passion for the subject, they stand a greater chance of pushing students toward careers in math in science that are the technical backbone of the country's economy."

"Simons' idea for persuading more graduates to become educators is a no-brainer: Pay them more."
"Together, Simons and his colleagues devised a plan to pay for each of the program's participants (known as "fellows") to receive a master's degree in education and also provide them with stipends of $90,000 each, on top of their salaries, spread over their first five years in the program."

MfA Executive Director Irwin Kra, Simon's long-time friend and colleague in the mathematics department at SUNY-Stony Brook says:
"This is a problem that doesn't just affect education, but also the economy, our security, and, because I am an old Jeffersonian, I believe it affects our democracy,"..."People should know basic concepts in math and science in order to make informed decisions about the issues."