thinking beyond lunch and beyond recessed and talking about a college education. that has a transformative impact on their lives. do not underestimate the notion of a mind that is stretched. if you cannot think it and cannot see it, you can never necessarily be it, but if you start thinking and talking about things, the remarkable thing about life -- it tends to manifest. the one thing manifesting now is to think about something you can now afford because you have something a lot of families cannot afford. one-half of african-american and latino families do not have access to a san francisco -- do not have a checking account. one in three san franciscans do not have a checking account. they end up going to these check cashing places and 80 lenders. these kids now have something their parents do not have -- a college savings account. they have friends in the private sector that will match the contributions of the city.

then, you have a group saying this is about fiscal discipline and we want to create a financial literacy program around this. so we want to create other things in their lives beyond the notion of a college savings account. i think this could be profound. we may be wrong, but it sure is worth trying something new. 1/10 of low-income families ever graduate from college. this is serious stuff. we are the lowest percentage of parents that have not graduated from high school of any state in the united states of america, so how difficult it is for a parent who never graduated high school to imagine sending their kids to college, but here, we bring that stewardship and that mind set home, and i think it can dramatically change people's lives, and i think it will disproportionately benefit diverse communities, so i could not be more enthusiastic, massachusetts -- more proud of the incredible support from

carlos and how he immediately saw this as an opportunity to build on san francisco promise, our guarantee of a four-year college education. we just announced the gates foundation last week at colleges, preschool, and all these really wonderful things that are happening here in this city, and i want to again reinforce the incredible year ship of bevan and david and jose. i am really proud of them because they are the ones who will deliver on this. i want to thank the teachers and parents who stood up and stood side by side with us. with that, my time is expired five minutes ago. [applause] >> thank you, mayor newsom. i want to spend a couple of

minutes talking about the program itself. let me talk about the goals of the program. it really is about building aspirations in the hearts and minds of every child who enters the san francisco public school system. think about it -- the chance to let every child know that they have the equal opportunity to be successful, like everybody else in our city. that is the most important thing we can do, and to do that, we are going to use some city funds. we're going to open accounts and used city funds to put an initial small feat deposit into those accounts to make them real. the city will be voting either 50 or $100 in the account, depending upon the situation of the family, and that is meant to get the account established. the account will be open automatically, and that is a key feature of the program -- automatically opening up these accounts. this is something that has never been done before, giving folks an opportunity to save in a

fashion that is as easy as it possibly could be. it just shows up. it is just there. then, to make the accounts successful, obviously and $50 or $100 deposit is not going to amount to enough money to go to college. we need to engage the families, in gauge their relatives, and that is what we're going to do. we are going to work with the schools, teachers, parents, organizations, and we are going to do everything we can to help families learn how they can grow these accounts and make it successful for their kids. if they can find a way to put $5 or $10 a month into their child's college savings account, there will be significant money there when the child is ready to go to college. that is what we need to get parents to understand, and the way we are going to do that is work to private partners, many of whom are here today, to help us educate folks. we are going to launch with financial incentives in the

first year of the program. you will hear about those today. parents will be able to save money and have that money matched dollar for dollar in the program. true cash incentives to make this money available. that is what the program is about, changing the landscape, making the difference, but we cannot launched a program without solid backing and solid account support, and that is what we are here to announce today. we are here to announce that we are going to be working with citibank to open up accounts for all of our interim kindergartners, and we are going to work to get those accounts opened this fall. with that, i would like to introduce from citibank the head of the micro finance group there. bob. [applause] >> thank you. when san francisco came to us with this idea, and it was a very ambitious one, it did seem very ambitious and an allied air in many ways, but i think the

leadership of the city has a clarity and vision to put together a program that can be scaled and implemented in a way that will probably be an example for many of the cities. -- many other cities. we believe we will learn to build a platform above financial inclusion that will include all the students entering life. the other part is the collaboration of players here today. to start at the beginning, and the challenge to build a platform that every child will have an account, can see their accounts online, that they will see their balances, they will see the incentive account, but we need to go beyond that and think over the next 12 years, how do we take that excited group of kindergartners through a whole learning process about building and saving? we know that through recent reports, children who saved are seven times more likely to go to university than those who did not. and it is not just the amount of money in the account that makes

a difference. it is a lifetime of learning to manage funds, have the incentives and prioritization around managing their own assets. we are very excited to be part of this launch, and we look forward to working with the community to make it successful for all the children in the city. [applause] >> thank you, bob. we could not make this program is success without the incredible support of the school system, and i would like to introduce carlos garcia, the superintendent of schools. >> for us, this is like frosting on the cake. we have been working the last three years in san francisco unified to have a cultural shift in the district. many school districts same -- i do not think they aim high enough. they say they want the kids to graduate from high school. i'm sorry, but in this day and age, that just is not good

enough, so we started about three years ago an effort to include preschool, to have a conversation in kindergarten, to go through all the greats and start talking about -- there is a reason why we call graduation ceremonies in high school commencement ceremonies because it is actually the beginning, not the end. this plan -- yes, it is a commencement. what we forget is we cannot do this by ourselves. to have gavin and jose here -- we have been talking about this for a while. forjose first approached me about this, i thought that he was a little out there, and then gavin -- we all know he is out

there. but to have the supervisors jump in and say this is not about politics. it is really about creating a city where -- dogs get treated great year. no offense because i have a little dog. i know we are dog-friendly, but how about creating the most child-friendly city in the united states? that is what we want to do. what is great is that these folks here had the vision to realize that we cannot just expect the school district to do it all. that is why i think the streets have failed by an american. the only way school district are successful is one entire cities, communities get behind them and start believing in the children. hear, these faults are walking the talk. what really helped us last year, every ninth grader and every single high school is now required to take the a-g

requirement. that means you are not going to take classes that are a waste of your time. every course will get you into college or into a career. about regulating. it is about planning the rest of your life. i do not know about you -- i grew up dirt for. i did not have an account until i went to college and had a girlfriend who was smart enough to say to me that i needed to start putting money away. to have kids who have never had an opportunity for their parents to have an account to start planning for college is fabulous. just think of how we could grow this. we talked about partnerships, and it is great that we have partners who have stepped up, but imagine creating something where students who attend school, if we could find a donor or foundation that would say for every child that shows of all the time, has 90% attendance, we will grow another $100 into the account.

if we got everybody in this community we are born to start throwing in money for the kids. kids are wonderful thing but we need to put our money where our mouth is. we appreciate they are doing great things and we are going to reward them. that is what america is, the most capitalistic country in the world. let's reward these kids so by the time these kids graduate from high school and are ready to go to college, let's have some real money for them. one of the biggest obstacles when you speak to kids in high school, their kids, the no. 1 obstacle why they think they cannot go to college is they cannot think how they would pay for it. that should be out of our vocabulary's. every town that does make it there, we pay for it tenfold in other ways. of what to think everybody who

has stepped up. it seems only appropriate that now i get to introduce one of the parents. that is what we are here for. [speaking spanish] >> [speaking spanish] >> first, thank you for implementing this program for our kids.

it also prepares us, as parents, to think ahead for our kids. thank you. [applause] >> thank you so much. at this time, i want to introduce some of the other elected leaders who are strong chance of this program. this program is supported by the elkton family of san francisco. with that, i want to introduce supervisor bevan dufty. >> good morning, everybody. this morning, i picked up " chronicle" and i was thrilled to see this as the opening story. i was reading this story and the

reporter presented both sides. how are we going to pay for this, the reporter asked? he was being described as fiscally responsible and tight- fisted, and those are not usually words that are thrown in my direction, but it costs over $300 a day for a child to be in juvenile hall. we spend $114,000 a year to keep a young person in juvenile hall. the children we saw in the room today, by the time they are in second grade, what are david and i together? we share the community and children and schools with each other. by the time they are in second grade, they will know the difference between red and blue. it is a dividing line in our community and city. how wonderful it could be if we could aspire, that in 10 years, the red and blue would be the difference between stanford and

cal? that is why i support this program. [applause] >> this is good. i am liking this. thank you, supervisor dufty. i would like to introduce another strong champion and reason for the success of this program, supervisor david campos. [applause] >> thank you. that is pretty good. i do not know about the cal bears part. i wanted to thank mayor newsom on his leadership on this issue. this would not have happened without the mayor making it the priority that it has been. 84 pushing back, even when cuts were being made in city hall. -- thank you for pushing back, even when cuts were being made

in city hall. on a personal level, what is so powerful for may, the notion that when a kid begins the school system that you make it clear to him or her that college is a possibility for them i think that is something that cannot be overestimated. it is something that is powerful. in california, only 10% of latinos have a college degree. 22% for african-americans, compared to 40% of the anglo population. that is a huge disparity, and unless we address it in this state, it will have long-term ramifications about the future of this had state, economically and otherwise. i have always said, i have benefited from the fact that i was an immigrant, that i grew up in latin america. in latin america, it is not too

far-fetched for latinos to go to college. every person who goes to college in latin america is a latino, so the notion that a member of that minority group, go to college was something that you grew up with. a lot of our kids do not have that here. we need to make it clear, in this land of opportunity, that opportunity is available to you. and what a better way of making that statement clear, and then by the government saying we are willing to make that investment, because we believe in you? i think that is powerful. if that is going to change the lives of not only these kids, but the lives of their families. so it is really amazing for me to be a part of this. i want to thank everyone who has made it possible. [applause] >> thank you, supervisor campos. as you heard, we have a number

of strong partners here, on the first day that we are announcing the program, to make this program a success. one of our longstanding partners, an organization that is helping low income families become more successful with their money -- earned. i want to introduce to you the president of earn. >> good afternoon. earn is a program that helps families save and invest, and things like college. for too many years, we have seen families save millions of dollars when they have the incentive to do so and use them for things, like college. today, we are happy to announce we are going to match the first $100 of a family's savings account for their child's

college fund. [applause] we have seen the power of a small incentive like this give real life to aspirations that might feel like a dream but might become a reality for families that participate. i want to say, earn has been successful because of groups that we work with, the new america foundation, for example. we are grateful to have some of the two greatest thinkers in the country hear about this subject. they and the san francisco foundation helped to create our organization. i want to thank you all for being here. appreciate your interest in the program. [applause] >> thank you. as ben mentioned, we have a number of strong organizations working with us. an organization on the national level is cfed, working to build

savings for college accounts. i want to reduce bob of cfed. >> thank you, mr. treasurer, all of you. it has been our honor and freedom, i guess, to be working nationally to create a realistic path for every american to go to college, start a business, buy a home. in that, we have gone to look at the emergence over the last 20 years of children's savings accounts, college savings accounts. i want to take that national perspective and just reflect here. i think it is not just san francisco being out there, but san francisco being out there in front. i want to make three comments on

that. there was a lot of research and demonstration that had gone into this. we had a large seed initiative thousands of people in rigorous evaluations. i have some reports from that. but san francisco carefully considered what had gone before and applied the lessons of that. we found out, given the opportunity, even poor families can save, because it is the price of stability and hope. secondly, there is not just one innovation here. there are a series of them. i think they have been called out, but it is worth underscoring. the city has figured out how to create a flexible, spare foundation for lifetime savings and aspirations that can be

built on. and they had the guts to invest in a tough time, knowing that this is about the future as well as the present. the school system totally integrated teaching, where it ought to be in the school system, and within existing courses. we know there are lots of financial education programs. there is very little effect of this to that without an account attached. and then the city, for those of you who have tried to open up a savings account for a kid, you know it is not easy. this cannot happen unless it is easy. the city has figured out a way to do that and it is rolling it out. finally, to my nonprofit partners, it cannot happen in the public sector alone, you need nonprofit partners. san francisco is the first but

it will not be the last. i imagine 10 of the other cities at san francisco has organized for financial empowerment will follow the lead. i hope the federal government will aspire legislation, or some other child account legislation comment as nomerica has been proposing. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, bob. i am proud to announce today the san francisco foundation has also come aboard to support this program. i know everyone is familiar with them here. they are an incredibly strong community support representative. with that, i want to introduce the ceo of the san francisco foundation, sandra fernandez. >> thank you. i think you have to have told city leadership, and you can see

our mayor, treasurer, superintendent, all understand what part they can play. we also recognize as a community foundation that there are many donors and corporations, philanthropic institutions, that really care about the future of california, and the future really was sitting here about half an hour ago. in addition to the research that has been done, the notion that you expect somebody coming in as a kindergartner to go to college -- if you set the expectation as well as the opportunity -- that is what this partnership is about. we believe in as the building as an important means for people to sit -- for people to pursue economic opportunity and be better citizens. we are happy to partner, bring in our donors and other foundations to help with the matching and financial literacy. we are happy to be a part of this incredibly exciting program. thank you. [applause]

>> one of the primary thought leaders on the national level and that we have been working with is the new america foundation. i am proud to introduce our local thought leader, here in san francisco, with the new america foundation. [applause] >> thank you so much. i am the last speaker. i do not think there is anyone else waiting in the wings. i think it has all been said. i am feeling really proud to be a san franciscan right now. our city, in this area, in many others, are not afraid to go first. we are up here because everything we have seen, from the latest research, from the good work of earn, what fed has

been testing -- cfed has been testing around the country, really improves the odds for success for kids. i know that this is a tough budget time. we need to make sure, especially in education, that every dollar we spend is working as hard as it can. from what we know, at this point, this is going to be a small investment there really pays off later. at new america, it is funny, we are a nonprofit institute. when all the kids were sitting there, i wanted to say, who wants to work at a think tank when they grow up? i am sure there and would have shot up in the air. at new america, we are lucky because we get to advance good policy. specifically, we want to move

forward big ideas that really break out of the traditional, left-right way of approaching things. we think this is one of those ideas. again, we are just excited. we are going to work with everyone here to make sure the account is an effective tool as it can be, for kids as well as parents. and we will help other cities who are interested in this approach, make it happen. i think this will also drive and informed some policy innovation. we are seeing it at the state level and at the national level. there is a bipartisan bill to create a savings account for all americans. with that, i will wrap it up. [applause] >> thank you. i know we have taken a lot of your time. i think we have a couple more minutes. if there was just a question that we could answer?

>> [inaudible] >> i think the question was how much money families could put into the account to make it successful, make sure that they are advancing inflation and things like that. the obvious answer is, the more, the better. our goal is to make sure that they are putting in at least what they can, perhaps $5, $10 a month would be a good start. we hope that they can bring in other family members, friends, employers -- we are or to work with them to make sure these accounts are successful. we just started our negotiations with citibank. we will make sure that they are low cost for the families and the city. we know that this is the right

thing to be doing. it is good business for the bank, the city, and account holders. >> there are no minimum balances or fees for the parents who have these accounts. those 25 students, those are 25 potentially future college graduates, hopefully bankers of san francisco. for all of us, it is an investment over time. they all seem like good clients for the future. >> just to put it in perspective, $20 a month, you will have $14,000 when they are 18th. -- 18. that is not bad. i know that is a lot of money for some people, but when you kept on hearing today -- which is an important part of what is happeninda