All this time I had really had it in my mind that I wanted the Ed Fund to be a household name."
Founded in 1979, the San Francisco Education Fund is a community-based nonprofit organization established to improve the quality of teaching and learning in San Francisco public schools so that all students in this diverse community have the education necessary for full participation in the economic, civic, and cultural life of our society.
The Ed Fund believes that strong public schools are critical to San Francisco's viability and that the community must take action to ensure their success. By acting as a bridge between the community and the classroom, the Ed Fund increases the availability and impact of resources for students and teachers throughout San Francisco public schools.
History of the Ed Fund
In 1978, Proposition 13 significantly reduced funding for public education, and San Francisco public schools were hit hard. Something needed to be done, and as founding executive director Gladys Thacher says, we needed to find a way to "reach out to the private sector and inject money and caring into the schools." The SH Cowell Foundation recognized the peril of San Francisco's schools and the trustees created the idea to set up a bridge between the school bureaucracy and the private sector, the first explicit "third party intermediary" whose only function was to benefit the teachers, students and school sites. Thanks to the SH Cowell Foundation, the Ed Fund was born and received two years of funding once a citizen group made up of civic and business leaders was established. It was a team effort that involved the citizen committee, the Superintendent of the SFUSD, and the Board of Education. Gladys Thacher was part of the initial committee and went on to carry out this vision as the founding executive director of the San Francisco Education Fund.