According to Simons, he founded the program to address failures in the US education system to produce students highly qualified in
STEM skills and knowledge, which reduces America's ability to compete in the global economy. He perceived the cause of the failure as low quality teachers, and saw that problem in turn as being caused by low salaries, lack of prestige, and lack of support and good training making the job unattractive to qualified candidates, many of whom could get jobs in lucrative fields like
quantitative finance. The program also offered stipends to qualified existing teachers, to promote their retention in the field. Each site was autonomous, with its own board, fund-raising, and programs tailored to address local needs, but all coordinated with the founding organization and received funding from the Simons Foundation. That year it also started a program offering $5,000 stipends to school administrators who attended seven MfA meetings per year. Ongoing financial support for MfA programs comes from private donors ==Activities==