Success Academy, the largest charter school organization in New York City, has announced an $8.5 million gift from the Paulson Family Foundation to expand its network of schools, Forbes reports.

The gift from hedge fund billionaire John A. Paulson and his wife, Jenny, will be used to open middle schools in the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn and the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan. Launched in 2006, Success Academy currently serves eleven thousand pre-K-12 students. "John and Jenny's extraordinary generosity ensures that thousands of New York City's least privileged children will receive a world-class education," said Success Academy founder and CEO Eva Moskowitz in a statement.

Moskowitz told the New York Times that she plans to expand the network from thirty-four schools this fall to seventy within five or six years; she has previously said she would like to see it grow to a hundred schools within ten years. The growth of the organization, however, has posed a problem for New York City mayor Bill de Blasio, who opposes the further expansion of charter schools in the city and in 2014 sought to block three Success Academy schools from opening in public school buildings, a decision from which he ultimately backed down. Under a state law passed last year, the city is required to find space for the new schools in public school buildings or pay a portion of their rent.

"The best way to reduce poverty long term is to improve the quality of public school education. Success Academy’s proven record in improving the quality of education for our neediest children has been extraordinary," said Paulson in a statement. "We need to allocate more public and private resources to Success Academy so more deserving children who want to attend Success Academy can do so. There is no better investment we can make than in the education of our children."