The City Year initiative will start with a pilot program at Oak Ridge Elementary in Oak Park and expand to five other schools in the Sacramento City Unified School District. Mayor Kevin Johnson says City Year identifies and mentors kids who are off track in attendance, behavior, or coursework.
JOHNSON: "City year is a national program that has an educational base focus to keep students on the right track. It focuses on under-served communities and provides extra support in those communities."
The mayor says he has been trying to get City Year here since 2006.
Volunteers are paid a stipend by Americorps and are promised a
job with the school district after their service is
over. AT&T, Bank of America, Wells Fargo,
Walmart, Cisco, Morgan Family Foundation, Sacramento Region
Community Foundation, Chevron, US Bank, McDonalds, Safe Credit
Union, Intel, Arata Brothers Trust, McDonalds, and private donors
are providing about $2.5 million dollars to fund the program.
This is the 22nd city in which City Year has set up a
program.