California Voices

Early this morning, a group of parents gathered in the library of Cesar E. Chavez Elementary School in San Francisco’s Mission neighborhood. In a few months, these parents will send their sons and daughters to Kindergarten, and will have an opportunity to participate in a new City program that aims to help families invest in their children.

Proposed by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and City Treasurer Jose Cisneros, the Kindergarten to College program will open college savings accounts for Kindergarten students. The purpose of the account is to help families save for college or vocational training, while teaching youngsters the importance of saving. According to Treasurer Cisneros, studies have shown that students with money saved are seven times more likely to go to college.

At the gathering, the Treasurer explained how the college savings accounts will work: the City will deposit $50 for each student - and $100 for students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. Families contribute $100 during the first year will receive a $100 matching deposit from EARN. (The City hopes to partner with additional foundations and corporations to provide additional savings incentives and increase the reach of the program.)

SFUSD Superintendent Carlos Garcia added that these accounts will also provide a tangible way for teachers to teach financial literacy to students and that teachers are already incorporating the accounts into their lessons plans for the Fall.

Supervisor David Campos discussed the importance of going to college and the impact that this program can have on families.

Supervisor Bevan Dufty explained why he supports the program. He is currently saving money for his young daughter’s future college education, and believes that “everybody in the City should have the same opportunity” to do so.

Eight college bound high school seniors joined the session to discuss their path to college and how best to support struggling children.

A soft-spoken student named Sofia was the first to speak. Sofia was just 18 months old when her parents moved to California to provide her with a better life. She started pre-school in San Francisco and was proud to say that she will attend UC Berkeley with a full scholarship. Sofia asked the parents to encourage their children to stay in school and to not let them drop out.

Milo described the trouble he had in junior high when he was pressured to join a gang. But due to the support of his parents, he was able to resist the gang and instead focus on school. He implored the parents to be involved in the lives of their children, because “it’s not a matter of how much money, it’s a matter of how much love” the parents have to give. At a young age, he realized that going to college means “an opportunity for my family, for my community, for myself.” He will attend San Francisco State University in the fall.

The parents were eager to learn more about the program and had a plethora of questions for the Treasurer, Superintendent, and Supervisors: What about the older kids, will they get accounts? What if my family moves away from SF – what will happen to the account? Will this impact my child’s ability to receive scholarships? Why isn’t this program in all of the schools?

The Treasurer and Superintendent explained that unfortunately the City does not have the resources to give every student an account, and decided to focus on Kindergarten students in order to instill these financial behaviors at an early age, as well as provide a long time for the accounts to grow. If a family moves out of San Francisco, the child will keep the account, but will no longer be eligible for any SF matching programs. The accounts will not affect a student’s ability to receive an academic scholarship for college. And for the first year, the program will be in 18 schools. In the second year, it will expand to 36 schools, and in the third year, it will include all of San Francisco’s 75 schools.

Afterwards, as parents picked up their young children and left the library, one family stayed behind. The parents went up to Treasurer Cisneros and thanked him for this program. They said that they recently realized how quickly their child will grow up and that they need to prepare for his future now. With Kindergarten to College, they feel better prepared to help their young son succeed.

You can help EARN provide matching deposits: http://www.earn.org/site/downpage.php?NodeID=45