The U.S. Department of Education has awarded three community-based organizations a total of $85 million in grants to improve education programs and engage the public, with an emphasis on using technology, in California.
"Today’s announcement of the Promise Neighborhood grants is an encouraging turn of events and advances substantively the concepts of Digital Inclusion as a pivotal component of community empowerment and School2Home as the centerpiece of neighborhood transformation,” said California Emerging Technology Fund President Sunne Wright McPeak. School2Home is a CETF program designed to close the digital divide and achievement gap among students.
Federal Promise Neighborhood grants were awarded to San Francisco-based Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA), Los Angeles-based Youth Policy Institute (YPI) and Chula Vista Promise Neighborhood. MEDA and YPI were awarded $6 million annually for 5 years; Chula Vista Promise Neighborhood was awarded nearly $5 million annually.
The California Emerging Technology Fund supported the efforts by the Los Angeles and San Francisco non-profits to stretch government and non-profit resources.
"The Promise Neighborhoods grants will not only help our children succeed in school, but these grants will lift up families and whole communities," said San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee in a press release. "I thank President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan for choosing the Mission community as one of seven recipients of the Promise Neighborhoods implementation grants so that we can continue to prepare our youth for the 21st Century workforce."
The U.S. Department of Education today announced a total of 17 grants awarded throughout the nation. According to the department’s website, Promise Neighborhoods is part of the White House Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative that supports "innovative and inclusive strategies that bring public and private partners together to help break the cycle of intergenerational poverty."
