September 1, 2004*

$50m Scholarship Program for Five Harlem Schools

Chancellor Joel Klein and Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott attended the event to welcome Mr. Weiss and Say Yes to Education to New York City.

Mr. Weiss challenged and encouraged the children to dream big and set themselves the long-term goal of graduating high school and going on to receive a college education or vocational training. Then to the great excitement of the entire crowd present this morning at Harlem’s world famous Apollo Theater – the children and their parents, teachers and school officials – Mr. Weiss announced the five schools that have been chosen to participate.

They are PS 161, 180, 57, 83, and 182, all in Harlem.

“Public private support for our schools is essential to the success of New York City public school children,” said Chancellor Klein, “I am grateful for George Weiss’ commitment to our schools and believe it is testimony to increasing confidence that the system is being turned around.”

The Say Yes to Education program is a partnership of philanthropy, university and the public schools founded by George A. Weiss, a Hartford financial manager, in 1987. It has flourished as a sponsorship and academic intervention program that works with inner-city students confronting educational and social challenges. It is already operating in Philadelphia with the University of Pennsylvania as university partner, in Cambridge with Lesley University and in Hartford with the University of Hartford.

Say Yes is now teamed with Columbia University’s Teachers College to provide support and services for hundreds of New York’s inner-city kindergarteners throughout their school careers to aid and to motivate the students to graduate from high school and go on to the college of their choice.

“We know that Say Yes works,” said George Weiss, founder and financial sponsor of Say Yes to Education. “86% of the students in our Toll (Philadelphia) program graduated high school, as did 79% in Hartford and 87% in Cambridge. Working together we can make a dramatic difference in the lives of these children, their families and their community. “Getting this program off the ground in New York City is a huge undertaking, but in all frankness, I wouldn’t have wanted to do it anywhere else. As difficult as this town can be, it is also astonishingly giving and helpful. The way the larger community has rallied ‘round this program is unique among the cities with which I have dealt.

“IBM came forward to provide computerized reading labs for all the classes in the program.
“The law firm of Bingham McCutchen has offered pro bono legal services to the families of the children for the next 15 years.
“The K.I.D.S. Foundation is providing clothes, books and toys.
“Hasbro is providing toys and other equipment.
“’Time For Kids’ has come forward to provide subscriptions, libraries and educational tools.
“Harlem Hospital will provide all health care services.
“This generosity and commitment, combined with the great work of Arthur Levine and Columbia Teachers College, gives us a very strong package to offer the deserving children of Harlem.”

New York Senator Charles Schumer said, “A college education has become a necessity that's priced as a luxury - and for a lot of New York kids it takes a remarkable program like Say Yes to Education to give them even a fighting chance of making it to a college diploma," Schumer said. "This program will have an extraordinary impact on the children and sets an example for investing in the future of New York."

Assemblyman Keith Wright spoke at the event to voice his support for this good news for Harlem and the program has also been warmly endorsed by the New York Federation of Teachers and its president, Randi Weingarten.