By Keith M. Phaneuf
www.ctmirror.orgEast Hartford — Gov. Ned Lamont today announced a plan to invest $300 million in private and public dollars in Connecticut’s schools — a plan centered on a $100 million contribution from hedge fund giant Ray Dalio’s philanthropic foundation.
State government will match the Dalio Foundation’s $100 million donation over the next five years, and work with that group to raise yet another $100 million from other philanthropic groups, Lamont said. The funds will be focused on communities with a high poverty rate and a high concentration of youth.
“I love public education. I’m always humbled and inspired by everything you do,” Barbara Dalio, who leads the foundation, told hundreds of students, teachers and administrators gathered at East Hartford High School to announce the contribution. “You are amazing.”
Ray Dalio, who heads the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates of Westport, said he grew up in a “lower-middle class” household and was fortunate “to have parents and teachers who cared for me.”