SF to invest $15bn over education loss due to Covid

San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced that the city budget will include an investment of $15 million in one-time funding to address education loss and recovery in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Building on the city's investment of over $100 million for Emergency Child and Youth Care Centers, the Community Hub Initiative, and the Summer Together Initiative, the city will use the new investment to help mitigate the education loss and expand academic support, which includes high dosage tutoring, social-emotional learning and literacy programs, the announcement said.

The San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) is currently studying the impacts of the pandemic on the development of the city's youth, reports Xinhua news agency.

Once it has completed their assessment and identified which areas of learning were significantly impacted, the $15 million will be allocated accordingly.

"With the significant investments in education we made last year, we knew that it was critical for our city's most vulnerable students to have the necessary resources to excel during the pandemic," said Breed.

"As students prepare for a fall return to the classroom, it is more important than ever to continue investing in their education and continue working to close the widening achievement gap," she added.

"We must not only restore what was lost academically, but ignite our children's love for learning again through educational support, arts and recreation," said Myrna Melgar, a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for the seventh district.-IANS