To: The New York Times
Re: Los Angeles Official Cancels Most Summer School (Education, May 30)
It is indeed unfortunate that Los Angeles and other cities have been forced to cut crucial summer school programs due to budget deficits. While the financial crisis has been incredibly trying for towns across the U.S., families in other countries do not even have government support for free basic education.
For the 75 million primary-aged children in poor countries who are not in school, the global downturn is truly disastrous. President Obama pledged $2 billion for a new approach to the global education crisis during his campaign. The president needs to put those words into action and bring together both rich and poor countries in creating a global funding mechanism to achieve Education for All.
I urge our members of Congress and President Obama to lead the world in creating a multilateral Global Fund for Education to increase global funding commitments to achieve universal access to basic education.
Deeksha Hebbar
