When a local resident found out that her schools in an extremely wealthy Northern California county was at the bottom for state funding, she stepped up to make the difference.
Maja Kristin asked the Ross Valley School District to organize a meeting of 100 teachers from their K-8 schools, with the special instruction that they weren’t to know what the reason was.
Gathered in a conference room on August 13th, Kristin explained she had discovered that its teachers were the paid the least of any peer group in the wealthy Marin County.
Marin is one of the highest-income counties in America by per capita income and median household income, and sits across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. Despite this, and despite sky-high property values, Ross Valley sits in the bottom 20th percentile for state school funding.
In order to make up the difference, Kristin asked a group of district school principals to hand out envelopes which the teachers were instructed to open.
“We as citizens, we can write direct checks,” Kristin told the assembly who discovered exactly that—paid to their order—each worth $9,161.70.
The bonuses were part of a donation worth $1 million to the school district, and KRON 4, a local news outlet, was in the room when the teachers saw their checks, recording their reactions and speaking to them afterwards.
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“It’s life-changing,” one teacher, Sydney Dean, said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such a beautiful gift from someone I don’t even know or haven’t taught their kid,” another, Amber Bunnell-Wild added.
WATCH the story below from KRON 4…
SHARE This Determined And Generous Citizen Rewarding Marin County’s Teachers…
