SFUSD approves increase to Public Education Enrichment Fund budget

Press Release

March 30, 2016 (San Francisco) – The 2016-17 Public Education Enrichment Fund (PEEF) budget was recently approved by the SF Board of Education and includes a $3.17M increase over the 2015-2016 budget.

The additional funds will support the expansion of programs and create new positions in areas funded by PEEF including sports, arts and music, and libraries.

In addition, the district’s African American Achievement Leadership Initiative (AAALI) will be receiving increased funding to hire new program coordinators to further support SFUSD’s partnership with the African American PostSecondary Pathway. The pathway connects African American high school students to college and career coaching, summer job opportunities, and professional networking with Beyond 12, LinkedIn, and Salesforce.

The PEEF budget will also increase:

• Coaching support, supplies and equipment for Paralympics and expansion of girls’ sports
• Expanded peer resources positions in middle schools
• Increase in school social workers and district nurses
• Added classroom and itinerant teachers to complete expansion of the Cantonese and Spanish Biliteracy Pathways at the elementary level and support for Dual Language Immersion sites

The PEEF budget for next school year is approximately $64M.

About PEEF

In March of 2004, San Francisco voters approved the ballot initiative Proposition H. The passage of Proposition H established the Public Education Enrichment Fund (PEEF) as law within the City Charter, Section 16.123.1-10. PEEF provides critical funding to improve the quality of education for the youth of San Francisco.

In November of 2014, Proposition C, the "Children and Families First" initiative, was passed by a majority of voters. Passage of Proposition C guaranteed funding for PEEF and the Children and Youth Fund (formerly known as the Children's Fund) through 2041 without any increases to taxes.

Physical education and athletics

Because of the fund, all elementary schools now have a credentialed PE teacher working alongside them and coaching elementary schoolteachers at least one day a week. Prior to 2004-05, there were no credentialed physical education teachers serving elementary schools. In 2015-16, PEEF funded 44 specialists to work alongside students’ regular classroom teachers. Students in grades 6 through 12 now have access to fitness labs and curriculum that help them develop fitness plans, as well as the ability to participate in fitness exercises and activities to progress toward their fitness goals.

PEEF funding has also contributed to an overall increase in the number of paid athletic coaches at SFUSD. In 2004-05, the year before PEEF funding began, SFUSD had 458 paid athletic coaches; now there are over 600.

Libraries

PEEF has funded credentialed teacher librarians, professional development, upgrades in technology, and library collections that are current, relevant, engaging, and accessible to all students. The number of full-time-equivalent credentialed teacher librarians serving school sites has more than tripled since 2004, as has the number of library books checked out by SFUSD students. The percentage of schools with a library and credentialed librarian has grown from 23 percent to 100 percent.

Wellness services

PEEF funds social workers and nurses who provide site-based services to improve the social and emotional learning of students in kindergarten through 8th grade. Beyond that, all public high school students are served by the San Francisco Wellness Initiative, which provides free, confidential services to students, including behavioral health services, counseling, nursing services, support and empowerment groups, reproductive health services, youth leadership programs, and links to community health resources.

Language services

PEEF also provides equal access to information and services for parents with limited English proficiency by maintaining and expanding translation and interpretation services in Chinese and Spanish, as well as Tagalog, Russian, Vietnamese, Arabic and Samoan. Additional funding was provided for translation and interpretation services in 2015-16.

Visual and performing arts

PEEF funds are used to support staffing arts programs, arts-related field trips, and professional development, and to purchase arts supplies and musical instruments. During the most recent recession, as other funding sources declined, PEEF allowed SFUSD to increase the percentage of elementary schools staffed with a credentialed arts teacher from 40 percent to 100 percent.

More information on PEEF. The fund is supervised by the PEEF Community Advisory Committee.

Page updated on 03/31/16