Pop stars are often accused of being “divas” more interested in themselves than anything else. But this charge could not be levelled at megastar Taylor Swift, who is donating all the proceeds of her new single to New York City’s public schools. 

The singer, who has just released a new album, 1989, announced yesterday that she would be giving the profits from her latest single, Welcome to New York, to the city’s public schools. 

Swift, who has recently moved to the Big Apple, made the announcement on local television chat show The View while talking about how much she enjoyed living in the city. 

“I love it here,” she said. “I love it so much...I don’t think I told anybody this before, but the fans were wonderful enough to make [Welcome to New York] No 1 on iTunes.

“It’s selling really well, which is good, because I’m donating all of my proceeds to New York City public schools.”

The star, who made her name as a country singer and has since achieved global fame, is following in the footsteps of another country and western superstar, Dolly Parton, by donating money to education.

The Dolly Parton Foundation’s Imagination Library project aims to improve literacy among children across the world by providing free books. 

Other famous names who have tried their hand at education philanthropy include Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, who gave $100 million (£62 million) to state schools in Newark, New Jersey, in 2010.

To see Swift make her announcement on The View, watch the video below from six minutes in:

[View:http://www.youtube.com/v/Ryqh5rn6ypQ?fs=1?fs=1?fs=1?fs=1?fs=1?fs=1?fs=1&rel=0]