Press Release Details
Statement regarding Mayor Ed Lee’s passing Link to this section
“We are all saddened by the untimely death of Mayor Edwin Lee. Mayor Lee was a true champion for San Franciscans, we personally worked together in fighting for affordable housing, combating unemployment, working to eliminate violence in communities, tackling homelessness, and supporting our schools,” said SF Board of Education President Shamann Walton.
“Mayor Lee will always be remembered for his dedication to our great city and for leading San Francisco with class and dignity at all times. Our love and our prayers go out to Mayor Lee’s family during their time of bereavement. May you rest peacefully, you will truly be missed.”
“Mayor Lee understood that an investment in our youth is an investment in the future of San Francisco,” said Vice President of the Board of Education Hydra Mendoza. “Under his leadership, thousands of youth gained employment and college scholarships, preschool quality and access grew, and our city and school district resources are more coordinated, resulting in greater benefits for our youth. Teacher housing was also very important to the Mayor and we are moving closer to making this a reality.”
Mayor Lee and Deputy Chief of Staff for Education and Equity Hydra Mendoza brokered the relationship between Salesforce.org and SFUSD, providing $26.7 million in funding for the Mayor’s Middle Grades Leadership Initiative over five years, the largest private investment in SFUSD history. Focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, the Mayor’s initiative has been dramatically improving student learning opportunities throughout SF public schools.
In a September 2017 announcement regarding the fifth consecutive year of Salesforce funding to SFUSD, Mayor Lee said, “We are fortunate to live in a thriving city, and we want to see everyone — especially our young students — benefit from that prosperity.”
“Today our children lost both a role model and a leader. As the first Asian-American mayor and the child of working-class immigrants, Mayor Lee connected with many of our students and frequently visited our public schools,” said SFUSD Superintendent Vincent Matthews.
“The Mayor truly understood what it meant to partner with our school district. He listened, asked thoughtful questions, then stood beside school leaders in our collective efforts to transform learning so that our students could stay and thrive in San Francisco.”
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Page updated on 12/12/17