Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and wife, Priscilla Chan, to donate $120 million to California schools

The billionaire founder of the social networking site and his wife announced their donation to Bay Area schools on Friday. Chan told NBC's 'Today' that the couple wants 'to continue to be involved in helping improve equality for all our local kids.'

BY JOE KEMP
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, May 30, 2014, 8:46 AM

DANIEL ACKER/BLOOMBERG
Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, will donate $120 million to public schools in the Bay Area.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, will donate $120 million to public schools near their California home, the couple announced on the social networking site on Friday.

The money will be distributed to Bay Area schools through their foundation, Startup: Education, to improve technology used in the classrooms over the next five years.

“We live in Palo Alto, which has, fortunately, one of the greatest school districts in the country,” Chan told NBC’s “Today.”

“But right next door, actually within walking distance of our home, is East Palo Alto that has a K-8 system that has a lot of unmet needs that the public school district is struggling to make up the difference for at this time.”

Chan, a recent medical school graduate, said that she attended public school until her high school graduation.

Chan told the news station that she and her billionaire husband hope their donation improves the educations of underprivileged children.

“We want to continue to be involved in helping improve equality for all our local kids,” she said.

Chan later discussed her marriage with Zuckerberg, and how sometimes her biggest job is making sure her husband doesn’t forget to eat.

Zuckerberg, Wife Give $120M to Bay Area Schools

May 30 (Bloomberg) -- Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are donating $120 million to the San Francisco Bay Area's public school...




Chan, a recent medical school graduate who is training to become a pediatrician, told the morning show that little has changed since she first met Zuckerberg while waiting in line for the bathroom at a Harvard University fraternity party more than 10 years ago.

“He has graduated to a nicer hoodie,” she said.

“He wears a fresh hoodie every day, so that pretty much meets my lowest barrier for him...I’m more concerned that he eats regularly.”

Priscilla Chan told NBC’s ‘Today’ that she looks forward to donating $120 million to improve public schools near her California neighborhood.

Chan said her workaholic husband sometimes skips meals, and then complains about feeling sick and having a headache.

She added that they have considered having children one day, but she doesn’t want to be a mother until she becomes a doctor first — a job that helps give her some anonymity.

“I’m in a fortunate situation where I get to train as a doctor in a program where everyone just treats me like a normal resident,” she told the news station.

“That could be good and bad. But it’s nothing glamorous. I get to have the same experience as everyone else. So it’s strange, because I don’t feel it in my everyday life. I’m just someone who’s training to be a doctor.”

jkemp@nydailynews.com

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