Educators in the San Francisco Unified School District received emails on April 9 that many initially dismissed as spam but turned out to be from an anonymous donor offering them $250 each with no strings attached.
Nearly 6,000 teachers, paraeducators and other staff members across the district began getting the messages promising free money. Follow-up emails soon arrived with details and links to redeem legitimate digital gift cards. The donor contributed a total of $1.6 million, which pencils out to about $250 per person after administrative costs.
The anonymous San Francisco resident, who works in the tech industry, reached out to Spark SF Public Schools last November to coordinate the gift. Spark, the district’s nonprofit foundation, handled distribution through educators’ work emails.
The donor told the San Francisco Chronicle the gift was meant to show appreciation amid years of public negativity around the teaching profession.
The foundation’s president, Ginny Fang, oversaw the process and reassured staff the offer was real. Recipients can spend the money on anything they choose.
The gesture comes as SFUSD, like many large urban districts, continues to navigate staffing shortages, budget pressures and the lingering effects of the pandemic on public education.
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Nearly 6,000 teachers, paraeducators and other staff members across the district began getting the messages promising free money.
Nearly 6,000 teachers, paraeducators and other staff members across the district began getting the messages promising free money.
