SAN FRANCISCO—On Monday, August 19, Mayor London Breed announced her partnership with the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) in funding a $10 million stipend pilot program for educators who teach in the “City’s high-potential schools.”
According to the program’s announcement, those schools are located in the Bayview, Mission, and southeastern neighborhoods. The program is part of San Francisco’s 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 fiscal budget. It will supply educators teaching and serving in underfunded communities who experience high turnover rates within their school systems.
“Many urban schools serving low-income and students of color find it difficult to recruit and retain experienced educators. At high-potential schools, one-third of teachers are first or second year teachers, and educator turnover is 27%, compared to district-wide turnover of 21%. This pilot program seeks to improve student outcomes by addressing the recruitment and retention issue that currently exists at high-potential schools,” states a press release from the Mayor’s Office.
The $10 million budget is an extension of another SFUSD stipend pilot program and will be supplied to over 1,000 educators for over the next two years. Educators in high-potential schools are already awarded $2,000 on top of their base salary, but with the extension of the stipend program, they will be allotted an additional $3,000 stipend for the 2019-2020 fiscal year. Educators will then be allotted an additional $2,500 stipend for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, bringing their total stipend sum to $7,000.
“Students in San Francisco deserve a high-quality education, regardless of where they live or go to school. These stipends are one way to help make sure that qualified educators can keep working in our City and that our students are well-served,” said Mayor Breed. “San Francisco is an expensive place to live and we hope that these stipends will help our educators afford the cost of living so that they can be part of the community in which they work.”
“We appreciate the Mayor and City partnering with SFUSD to support our mission of each and every student thriving in the 21st century,” said Superintendent Vincent Matthews. “Recruiting, retaining and supporting teachers in our high potential schools is a top priority.”
For more details about the San Francisco Unified School District, visit http://www.sfusd.edu/.
