In 2004, he helped launch Math for America, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting math education and supporting outstanding teachers. Eventually, the foundation would spend millions of dollars annually to provide annual stipends of $15,000 to one thousand top math and science teachers in New York’s public middle schools and high schools, or about 10 percent of the city’s teachers in the subjects. It also hosted seminars and workshops, creating a community of enthusiastic teachers. “Instead of beating up the bad teachers, we focus on celebrating the good ones,” Simons says. “We give them status
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