In June, after months of debate and unknowns, Gov. Newsom signed off on the state’s 2024-2025 budget of $279 billion. Thankfully, it largely preserved K-12 and post-secondary funding and protected historic investments in expanded learning, community schools, college-going and universal transitional kindergarten.
These efforts reflect once-in-a-generation investments in improving the learning experience of our children and youth to prepare them for success in the 21st century. One example is California’s Expanded Learning Opportunities Program or ELOP – a $4 billion investment in bolstering learning from the traditional school day with enrichment, summer learning and the out-of-school time learning experience.
The work of a community foundation often involves ensuring state and federal investments are met locally with optimal conditions for success. At SDF, we work with our education and nonprofit partners – like San Diego Unified School District and our Level Up SD partnership – to ensure they have the support needed to implement these statewide initiatives. By identifying where philanthropic co-investment can fill a gap, we ultimately amplify and unlock the full potential of public dollars.
SDF works together with partners to ensure philanthropy can play its unique role in achieving the most impactful deployment of ELOP funding to bring expanded learning to San Diego students. Since 2020, we have partnered with San Diego Unified to ensure the maximum and most equitable deployment of the district’s ELOP allocation.
Together, we have supported more than 100 community-based partners in providing programming to about 50,000 students. While this work provides summer enrichment, it also helps students – San Diego Unified data shows that, overall, summer program participants demonstrated larger gains in reading and math proficiency compared to non-participants. In 2022, we also created the County Expanded Learning Program to provide 15 local nonprofits with the support needed to create expanded learning programming for elementary and middle school students in other school districts in San Diego County.
With help from donors, SDF builds the capacity of organizations to participate in ELOP-funded programs, and funds meals and transportation to fill gaps for grassroots, community-embedded programs. In the case of community schools, SDF is investing in communities of practice that bring community-based organizations together with their K-12 partners to help nurture trusting, mutual partnerships.
Our team has seen firsthand the incredible impact these investments have had on our children over the last four years, and we are grateful to our state leaders for their continued commitment. While we hope these investments continue to endure, with the support of donors like you, SDF will continue to be ready to step up to support students.
