Bill Gates during Nashville visit: We are going to stay invested in Tennessee

Jason Gonzales
The Tennessean

Tennessee is one of the five states the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is most invested in terms of education and it's unlikely that will change, said tech-billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates. 

"Oh yeah, we are going to stay invested in Tennessee," Gates said in a sit-down interview in Nashville with The Tennessean. 

The interview with Gates capped a two-day trip to Tennessee where he visited Howard High School in Chattanooga Thursday, met with Gov. Bill Lee during a dinner at the governor's residence and then talked Friday with state officials and lawmakers.

Bill Gates is in Tennessee to talk about education. Friday, May 24, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn.

Gates said he is optimistic Lee will carry on the work in education trailblazed by Govs. Bill Haslam and Phil Bredesen. Gates said his foundation doesn't take a position on school vouchers, a program Lee signed into law on Friday, and believes the first-term governor is invested in public education.

The Gates Foundation has invested about $34 million in Tennessee statewide, with an emphasis in Memphis.

"Fifteen or 16 years ago the state started from a modest beginning in terms of education quality ... We are here because a lot of people are lined up to say this is a super important thing for Tennessee, which we think is great," Gates said. "So it looks like we have got seven more years where at least the state really is making it a priority."

Gates also talked about other public education topics. Here is what he had to say:

The importance of education

The Gates Foundation announced in 2017 that it plans to spend about $1.7 billion on education nationally. The foundation's focus is on the education equality gap, particularly for minority and low-income students in the U.S.

"Unfortunately, family income is predictive of quality," Gates said.

The foundation started its work in scholarships, small schools work and in partnerships in districts such as in Memphis, he said.

Now the foundation is in a new phase where it is funding networks of schools.

Charter schools

The Gates Foundation spends about 15% of its K12 investments on charter schools, Gates said. It's aimed at improving outcomes for students with disabilities, including special needs students.

Bill Gates is in Tennessee to talk about education. Friday, May 24, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn.

"It is not a gigantic thing we spend a lot on," Gates said of charter schools.

There is controversy around charters, he said, but the foundation sees the programs as valuable. Gates said in states where there is an insistence on quality charters, shutting down those that are underperforming academically means the students are better for it.

Public school support 

The money the foundation spends, however, is concentrated in public schools. 

"We decided we wanted to be mostly in public schools," Gates said.

Gates said it is daunting as a private foundation to work predominantly with public schools, but it's on the foundation to pioneer that work. The work is dependent on a state or local government's willingness to partner.

His trip to Chattanooga

The Gates Foundation has given more than a half-million dollars in recent years to education initiatives in the Chattanooga area.

He talked to Howard High School students who conveyed issues in retaining teachers, saying they wished educators would stay on rather than leave.

The students, he said, told him they also wished they had more resources.

"They were pretty frank," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Reach Jason Gonzales at jagonzales@tennessean.com and on Twitter @ByJasonGonzales.