Cal Poly San Luis Obispo has received a pledge of $7 million from trial attorney Joseph Cotchett to fund an initiative to provide more mathematics and science teachers in low-income areas.

The program will include training for teachers who will commit to working in low-income neighborhoods, a summer professional development program for educators already in those neighborhoods and scholarships for aspiring teachers.

"If you put passion and commitment into teaching children, you can do something with them," said Cotchett, who graduated from Cal Poly with an engineering degree in 1960.