Bill Gates Directs U.S. Education Funding to Local Schools

Seattle (AP) -- Marking another phase in his education agenda, Bill Gates is now taking a more targeted approach to help struggling U.S. schools.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is now funding groups working directly with clusters of public schools in some of the most impoverished regions of the country. Many of those third-party groups already had relationships with the world's largest philanthropy, and some of the grants went straight to a school district and charter schools organization.