Social Justice, Equity in Education and
Creating Sustainable Change
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The death of George Floyd followed by weeks of historic protests have further exposed the issue of racial inequity in our society. The COVID-19 pandemic has done the same in education—highlighting the glaring discrepancy minority students face when it comes to learning.
During this crisis, we’ve seen many children in low-income families—disproportionately African American and Hispanic—being left behind because they don’t have access to computers or high-speed internet, as evidenced in a
recent study by the Brookings Institution. Since March, we've provided Wi-Fi access to more than 800 students to help bridge the digital divide and are currently working to serve even more students.
To demonstrate another disparity, in
Hillsborough County during the 2018-2019 school year, 69% of white students performed on or above level in English Language Arts. Disturbingly, only 36% of African American students were on level. This inequity, compounded with a lack of resources, will only widen the achievement gap and take years to recover from the learning loss.
A high-quality education for every child is fundamental to creating the society we all desire. However in order to deliver on this promise, these educational disparities must be addressed. HEF will be active in creating meaningful, sustainable change. As a HEF supporter, we know you join us in caring about our children and making our community the best for today and our tomorrows.
To our continued impact,
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We are Advocating for Public Education
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Florida repeatedly ranks among the lowest in the nation when it comes to how much states are devoting to education. Across spending indicators, Florida ranks 45th in the country according to
Education Week’s Quality Counts 2020
report.
While the Florida legislature has taken steps to increase funding for education, we believe for improved student outcomes, we must continue to:
- Increase funding to provide equitable educational opportunities within safe and secure learning environments and meet rising operational costs.
- Prioritize teacher compensation and fund innovate ways to attract and retain quality teachers for at-risk students.
- Increase access to early childhood learning and fund high-quality instructional programs.
- Increase funding to expand quality youth mentoring programs for at-risk students.
Click here
to learn more about our Advocacy Priorities.
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These past few months, we’ve been working hard to help ensure all students could continue their academic success during the COVID-19 crisis.
We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished and grateful to be nominated for the
COVID-19 Heroes of Tampa Bay Award
!
Now, we need your vote
—and it's really easy!
Visit:
peripherymediaonline.com/covid19-heroes
, scroll to the bottom of the page and select “
Hillsborough Education Foundation
” to cast your ballot (we’re in the middle of the list).
Voting is open until 9 p.m. on July 6th.
Mayor Castor will give out nineteen COVID-19 Heroes of Tampa Bay Awards in July.
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HEF Take Stock in Children Program
Earns a Perfect Score on our State Evaluation
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Congratulations to our
Take Stock in Children Team!
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Each year, the Take Stock in Children state office evaluates the performance of our mentoring program using a tool called the Balanced Scorecard (BSC).
We are scored on several different metrics including the:
- Percentage of students with 15+ mentoring sessions.
- Quality of support given to students by their College Success Coaches.
- Number of and opportunity for relevant workshops and fulfillment of the state grant requirements.
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This year, for the first time in the history of our program,
we have received a rating of Gold
(the highest rating) and
earned a perfect score of 100!
We are so incredibly proud of our team, and we can't thank our dedicated mentors enough for helping to make this achievement possible!
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Our annual summer Supply Drive campaign is off to a great start! Last month,
Oxford Exchange
collected school supplies at The Bookstore to help ensure
Hillsborough County Public Schools
students are equipped with the necessary tools for learning. While our longtime partner,
Hillsborough
County Tax Collector
is supporting us once again through our
Virtual School Supply Drive!
We believe
success relies on relationships
, and we know that we can’t do this without our business and community supporters!
Every year, we partner with the community to collect school supplies for our most vulnerable students, and we would love for you and your company to support this effort!
Check out the variety of ways you can get involved and help
Erase the Need
:
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Hillsborough Education Foundation Provides
Wi-Fi Hotspots and Tablets to Students
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We've seen digital inequities surface with our highest needs students who lacked vital internet access to successfully connect with their teachers and eLearning platforms from home.
Our work to bridge the digital divide is needed even more this summer. As the free internet service offered by local companies comes to an end, we are continuing to provide
Hillsborough County Public Schools
students access to their e-Learning platforms with Wi-Fi hotspots and tablets to support their academic success.
These are just some of the families we’re helping thanks to the support of our c
ommunity partners
!
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Our work doesn't happen without the generosity of our donors. That's why we are dedicating a new section in our monthly newsletter where we will showcase the individuals and companies making our mission possible.
For this month’s feature, we are celebrating Citi!
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Employees at Citi are dedicated to setting up students for success after graduation as well by hosting a career day at its Tampa headquarters to help explore a variety of career paths. The company foundation also awarded HEF a
Youth Workforce Fund
grant to expand college and career readiness initiatives through
Go2Work Tampa Bay
.
The project assists low-income high school and adult technical college students with job skills training and employment opportunities.
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For more than 20 years, Citi has been an outstanding partner in our effort to strengthen public education. The company and its employees are strong supporters, not only financially but also in giving the gift of their time.
Citi has consistently funded scholarships for students in need and dozens of staff members serve as mentors to our Take Stock in Children students. Citi also hosts our annual Mentor Appreciation Party, and even though it had to be cancelled this year due to COVID-19 restrictions, they graciously provided funding to help us express gratitude for our mentors.
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Citi Public Affairs Manager and HEF Board Member Sterling Ivey says the company is committed to making educational excellence a priority to help create a thriving workforce of tomorrow.
"This is where we live, where we work and where our children go to school. Many of our employees have spouses that work in the school system and we proudly support our students, teachers and administrators. But the public school system cannot work alone, which is why our commitment to Hillsborough Education Foundation is critical. HEF provides the right tools for students to achieve academic success so they are ready for the highly competitive, global workforce. It is who we are. It is where we live. It is the Citi way."
We are proud to shine a spotlight on Citi’s investment in public education and grateful for the company’s continuous support for the past two decades!
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