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RequiredReadingNewsletter of the Children’s Scholarship Fundgivinga choicegivingchildrena chanceFall 2010In This Issue:::1::Season’s GreetingsAmEx Members ProjectI recently read a poem called “The Dash” about how the whole of life isrepresented by a tiny symbol between our date of birth and our date of death—asmall punctuation point to represent our time here on earth, however short orlong it may be. How will we spend that time and use our resources?As another year draws to a close and we take a moment to reflect and to givethanks, the CSF family wants you to know that we are particularly grateful thatyou have chosen to be a part of our dash. With your help and support, CSF wasable to provide hope and opportunity through a CSF scholarship to thousandsof children this year. We thank you so much for giving the gift of an education,making all other gifts possible.My best wishes to you and your family at this wonderful time of the year and aHappy New Year to you as well.::2::CSF By the Numbers::3::CSF Around the Nation::4::4 Stars from Charity Navigator‘Superman’ Excerpt::5::Jessie ZhanNational School Choice WeekAnnual Report Release::6::The Last Word8 West 38th Street, 9th FloorNew York, NY 10018(p) 212.515.7100(f) dpress.comwww.facebook.com/ScholarshipFundDarla M. RomfoPresidentAmEx Members Project Chooses CSFfor Chance to Win 200,000Children’s Scholarship Fund has been selected toparticipate in Members Project , a partnershipbetween American Express and TakePart,a social network to help people everywheresupport charitable organizations.We need your votes! Help make CSF one of fivecharities that will share a total of 1,000,000 infunding in the current round of voting. You donot have to be an American Express cardholder.All you have to do is join Members Project,and cast a vote for CSF each week startingMonday, November 29th through Sunday,February 20th. After the three-month votingperiod is complete, Members Project will tallythe votes and announce the winners. We wantCSF to be a part of that list!The funding will help CSF offer more scholarshipsto more deserving families, and it takes just amouse-click each week to help us win this vitalsupport. Every vote makes a difference. It takesjust a small step to begin.Sign up to vote and help CSF win 200,000 by going to:www.takepart.com/membersprojectMembers Project encourages everyone,includingnon-AmericanExpress Cardmembers, to take his or her step andhelp support worthy causes and charitableorganizations.To join Members Project and start casting yourvotes for Children’s Scholarship Fund, go to:www.takepart.com/membersproject now!Volume VII, Issue IIIparents

:: Board of Directors ::CSF By the NumbersAnother school year, another 26,384 CSF Scholars!Theodore J. ForstmannCSF ChairmanForstmann Little & Company::Pamella DeVosPresident, Pamella Roland::Stanley F. DruckenmillerDuquesne Capital Management,L.L.C.::Stephen FraidinKirkland &Ellis::Mike McCurryPublic Strategies Group, L.L.C.::Michael T. MonahanPresidentMonahan Enterprises, L.L.C.::Noelle Nikpour::Arthur RockArthur Rock & Company::Darla M. RomfoChildren’s Scholarship Fund::Christy Walton::John T. WaltonCSF Co-FounderIn Memoriam1946-2005We’re already a couple of months into the 2010-11school year, and 26,384 low-income children in 33program areas nationwide are using CSF scholarshipsto attend the private or parochial school of theirfamily’s choice.Despite the poor economy hitting low-incomefamilies hard, CSF parents are still willing to paya portion of their own tuition – on average 1,565– towards their child’s education. As always, CSFfamilies were awarded scholarships based on theirhousehold size, family income, and the tuition attheir chosen school. Each scholarship covers 25%,50% or 75% of the tuition.This year, a total of 5,200 children are using brandnew CSF scholarships, entering private school for thefirst time. Although we had many more interestedfamilies than scholarships, we were able to clear 275children from our waiting list this October, thanks toour generous donors.The high numbers of applicants for scholarshipstell us that despite recent efforts at public educationreform and new charter schools entering themarketplace, private schools are still often the onlygood local education option for children in urbanareas.All told, since CSF’s inception, we have awarded 443 million in scholarships to 116,000 children.Thank you to all of you who have made it possible!At St. Anselm School in the Bronx, 130 CSF Scholarsare studying for a bright future!The Children’s Scholarship Fundaims to maximize educationalopportunity for all children:for those in need by offering tuitionassistance in grades K-8 foralternatives to faltering conventionalschools, and for all children bysupporting and cultivating education2 reform and school choice efforts.Number of children usingCSF scholarships:26,384Brand new awardsthis year:5,200Average CSF scholarship: 1,565Average Tuition: 3,956Average Family Income: 29,331

CSF Around the NationDenverPhiladelphiaFormer Massachusetts Governor and presidential candidate Mitt Romney addresseda crowd of more than a thousand people at a recent ACE Scholarships luncheon inDenver. This school year our CSF partner ACE Scholarships is funding scholarshipsfor more than 600 Denver children.ToledoEnjoying a recent Northwest Ohio Scholarship Fund (NWOSF) event: RobinLaValley; NWOSF Chairman Richard LaValley, Jr.; Mary Ann LaValley, and CSFPresident Darla Romfo. CSF partner NWOSF is serving almost 700 students in theToledo area this year.One of the 670 families whocelebrated their new scholarshipsfrom CSF Philadelphia at anevent this June. CSF Philadelphiahonored Vicki Phillips of the Billand Melinda Gates Foundation,the ACE Group, and several CSFPhiladelphia Scholars at theevent.The December 2010 issue of Newsmaxmagazine features CSF President DarlaRomfo as one of its 2010 Heroes on their“Heroes and Villains” list.3

Charity Navigator Awards Four Stars to CSFFor the fourth consecutive year, CSF has been awarded four stars(the highest possible rating) by the leading charity evaluator,Charity Navigator. Only 9% of the 5,500 non-profits non-profitssurveyed are awarded this honor four years in a row. You canview Charity Navigator’s complete report on CSF by going towww.charitynavigator.org.In addition, GuideStar, another charity website, has onceagain awarded CSF with the GuideStar Exchange Seal fortransparency. CSF is one of the most popular education charitiesamong visitors to GuideStar’s website.CSF has also received Independent Charities of America’s (ICA)Seal of Excellence. The ICA Seal of Excellence is awarded tocharities participating in the Combined Federal Campaign that“meet the highest standards of public accountability, programeffectiveness, and cost effectiveness.” Less than 2,000 out ofmore than a million U.S. charities have been awarded the ICAseal.Lending Superman A HandCSF recommends the new educationdocumentary, Waiting for ‘Superman’.To read CSF President Darla Romfo’scommentary on the movie, please visitour blog, m-csfpresident-lending-superman-a-hand/.to choose their students. For lowincome families, the only impedimentHere’s an excerpt:“The director Davis Guggenheim andseveral of the experts he interviewsargue that charter schools have finallyfigured out how to educate poor innercity kids who have scored below theirmore affluent peers for years. Butactually there were schools doing agreat job long before charters camealong. Some are low-cost parochialand faith-based schools and othersare just independent private schoolsoperating in the inner-city. They getvery little attention but they are doinga good job of educating some of ourmost at-risk kids.These schools do not require a lottery4CSF Scholars at Guardian Angel School inManhattan showing their best Superman take-off.to attending them is financial. CSF’saverage scholarship in New York is 1,857, and that is enough for ourparents to make the decision and thesacrifice required of them to sendtheir child to private school. Thereare thousands of empty seats in theseschools in New York alone, and thechild doesn’t have to depend on theluck of the draw to attend. They justneed a little financial assistance.High-performingcharterschoolslike the ones profiled in “Waitingfor ‘Superman’” are unquestionablywonderful schools producing excellentresults for those children luckyenough to enroll in them. And veryimportantly, they have provided somelevel of competition for the publicschools in their areas. However,they are not the only solution to ournation’s education problems, and itwould be dangerous to invest only inthem at the expense of private schoolsand other avenues of parental choice.”

Jessie Zhan: From Chinatown to China – and Back!CSF Scholar Jessie Zhan, an 8th grader, was honored along with eleven other studentsthis summer at the Trey Whitfield Foundation Annual Awards Banquet. Jessie has been aCSF Scholar attending Transfiguration School in Chinatown since 2006.Jessie was born in New York City, but soon after was taken to China to live with hergrandparents. She returned to the U.S. at age five to begin public school. She was always agood student, but her mother, Yu Ying, felt she would do better in a private school. Jessie’sgrades, since attending Transfiguration are even better, and she is deeply motivated to dowell, knowing that she has a scholarship to attend her school.At five years old, with the help of her grandpa, she won first place in her Chinese school’scharacter recitation contest. She also recently won first place in an essay contest whereshe wrote about the environment and how we can make it better.Jessie hopes to be admitted to Stuyvesant High School or another prestigious specializedNYC high school. Looking ahead, she is already considering a career in teaching. WithJessie’s determination and goal-setting, we have no doubt that she will accomplish greatthings.Congratulations to Jessie on all her success!CSF Scholar Jessie Zhan was honored at the Trey Whitfield Foundation Annual Awards Banquet thissummer.CSF Partners With NationalSchool Choice WeekNew CSF AnnualReport ReleasedCSF is proud to be a national partnerof the first ever National School ChoiceWeek. From January 23rd to January29th, 2011, education reformerseverywhere will celebrate and spotlightprograms and policies that allowparents to choose the best school fortheir own children.CSF’s latest Annual Report is off the presses.The 2009-10 school year report, “Going Places,”highlights CSF activities over the past year. Italso provides financial information for FiscalYear 2009 and gratefully acknowledges ourgenerous supporters. Please email azamudio@scholarshipfund.org if you would like us to mailyou a report. You can also download one fromour website, www.scholarshipfund.org.Who’s involved so far? Eva Moskowitz,CEO of the Success Charter Network;former Florida Governor Jeb Bush;Senator John McCain; Democraticstrategist Joe Trippi, and musician JonSecada, just to name a few!Watch our blog and website forupdates. And read more about it atwww.schoolchoiceweek.com.5