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PRESS RELEASE

November 12, 2003
Embargoed until noon, November 12

K-8 Scholarships Offered to Anaheim Children
From Low-income Families

Anaheim (Nov. 12)—The Southern California Children’s Scholarship Fund (SCCSF) announced today that it will offer up to 240 four-year partial tuition K-8 scholarships worth $1.2 million to children from randomly selected low-income families that reside in Anaheim. Current funding allows for 175 scholarships, but SCCSF Executive Director Michael Warder hopes to locate additional philanthropic partners by January 31, 2004.

The announcement of the "Anaheim Challenge for Education" (ACE) was made today at a press conference that included Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle, who serves as Honorary Chairman of ACE, and David Steffy of Newport Beach who, along with his wife Diane, provided a $400,000 dollar-for-dollar lead challenge grant to launch the program. In addition to the Steffy match, the Children’s Scholarship Fund (CSF) will provide fifty cents on the dollar for the local totals raised in this effort.

Mayor Pringle said "Anaheim is known world-wide for Disneyland, the Anaheim Angels, and the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Our greatest achievement would be for our city to be known as a place where every child has an opportunity to receive an excellent education." Mr. Steffy said he was "especially pleased that the Tiger Woods Foundation pledged $100,000." He added "we are hopeful that others will join the effort so that more families will have a choice in their children’s education, thus giving the children a better chance in life."

In addition to the pledge of $100,000 from the Tiger Woods Foundation, other significant philanthropic partners include Hobby People, Inc.; Henri Fankhauser; William E. Simon Foundation; Carl E. Wynn Foundation; and the Peter Ueberroth Family Foundation.

Scholarship applications may be made now by parents to SCCSF by post card, letter, fax, or over the website at www.sccsf.org through January 31. Family contact information, the names and grades of the children, and information as to whether the children are currently attending a private or public school is needed. No more than 20% of the final recipients may currently be attending private school. There will be a random drawing of potential recipients in early February. Parents will then be invited to meetings in March where they will be asked to provide documentation as to their financial condition. The four-year scholarships will begin in September 2004 for children in grades K-5.

Parents are free to choose any private school, but to qualify the child must be accepted at a specific school. The schools need not be in Anaheim. The scholarships will be 75, 50, or 25% of tuition depending on household income and size. Low income is roughly defined by the same criteria as the federal lunch program. The scholarship cap is $1,850 per year, and families must pay a minimum of $500 per year toward their school tuition. The average scholarship amount for this year in the Los Angeles program is $1,300.

SCCSF is the local office of the Children’s Scholarship Fund, based in New York City. CSF was founded in 1998 with a $100 million grant from John Walton and Ted Forstmann to help low-income families send their children to private schools. CSF aims to maximize educational opportunity by offering tuition assistance for needy families and promoting a diverse and competitive education environment. CSF has partner programs in 37 locations in the United States.

Parents may register for the scholarships by enrolling on the web at www.sccsf.org; faxing the needed information to: (562) 961-9240; or mailing their post cards or letters to:

ACE
Southern California Children’s Scholarship Fund
1650 Ximeno Ave., #245
Long Beach, CA 90804

Those wishing to donate should mail their donations or send their inquiries to Mr. Warder at the above address.

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