A $7 million gift to train math and science teachers at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, could reap rewards for some of Sacramento's most disadvantaged students.

Joseph Cotchett, a Bay Area trial attorney, and his wife, Victoria, announced their multimillion-dollar donation Friday, pledging to send sorely needed math and science teachers to the California schools that could use them most.

The Cotchetts' gift will provide $15,000 stipends over three years to the new crop of teachers - $5,000 for the year each student spends earning a credential and $5,000 in each of the two years they agree to teach in an urban school.

"We're not talking about developing Einsteins," said Joseph Cotchett, who graduated from Cal Poly in 1960 with an engineering degree. "We want young, energetic people who can go into these urban schools to teach basic math and science. ... Right now, we are moving thousands of kids into society without the basic tools to get a decent job and go to college."

No specific districts have been singled out for these new teachers, but as a condition of their gift, the Cotchetts are requiring that low-income, urban schools in the state's largest cities be the beneficiaries. Besides Sacramento, schools in Los Angeles, Fresno, San Francisco, San Diego and Oakland would be priorities.

Statewide, roughly 27 percent of the more than 37,000 teachers without credentials are math and science instructors, according to the nonprofit Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning in Santa Cruz.

Locally, Sacramento City Unified School District and Grant Joint Union High School District could be among the first to hire teachers from the new program.

"Good science and math teachers are a prize and we are glad for any help," said Maria Lopez, spokeswoman for the Sacramento City district. "We could certainly use them at all levels, but particularly in high schools, where we are always competing fiercely with other districts."

But the private sector has the biggest advantage when it comes to recruiting the best math and science talent, said Bonnie Konopak, dean of Cal Poly's University Center for Teacher Education.

"It's the salaries," she said. "People with expertise in math and science can make a lot more in private industry. This program is trying to help give schools a bit more of an edge."

Grant officials are in the midst of recruiting six new math teachers and three new science teachers for next year, according to David Karell, assistant superintendent of human resources.

Despite recruitment challenges, all of Grant's current math and science teachers have credentials, Karell said.

Besides training new teachers, the Cotchetts' gift also will pay for a summer institute for teachers already working in high-poverty schools to sharpen their math and science knowledge. The donation also established an endowed professorship in science and math teacher education.

Cotchett said he hopes the initiative eventually will steer math and science teachers to poor, rural school districts as well.