Mark Zuckerberg donates $20 million to give kids faster internet at schools

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mark zuckerberg priscilla chan

Peter Barreras/AP

Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg is on a mission to bring internet to the world, but that includes increasing internet access in the US, too. 

In a Facebook post, the social network's founder announced that he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, are donating $20 million to Education Super Highway, a nonprofit group that helps schools receive funding to improve their internet connections.

The money will go towards Zuckerberg's idea of using internet to encourage personalized learning so students can learn at their own pace and use the web's resources, Zuckerberg said. 

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"One day we'll connect the world and provide personalized learning for all students, and we'll keep focusing on this until that happens," Zuckerberg wrote.

The couple had previously donated $3 million to Education Super Highway in 2013, according to the New York Times

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Zuckerberg and Chan have always been large supporters of both education and connectivity. A few years ago, Zuckerberg donated $100 million to Newark, New Jersey's failing public-school system with the intention of turning around the schools in five years.

This October, Chan and Zuckerberg announced that they are starting their own private school in East Palo Alto. Chan used to be an elementary school science teacher, although she's now a pediatrician at San Francisco General hospital. The new school, dubbed "The Primary School", will cater to preschoolers and kindergarten students through the eighth grade and will open next August. The school, albeit private, will be free to attend.

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