Newsom seeks college accounts for kindergarteners

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Some say everyone should go to college. Mayor Gavin Newsom is trying to ensure that's the case in San Francisco.

Every child who enters kindergarten at one of San Francisco's public schools will get his or her own city-funded college savings account under a groundbreaking program officials plan to begin rolling out this fall, despite the current budget woes that will force layoffs and service cuts in other areas.

The deposits would be small - $50 to start, $100 for lower-income children - but the hope is that they will pay huge dividends, teaching students about saving and budgeting while forging the conviction that a college education is within reach.

"I believe that every single child should be born not necessarily into wealth, but into opportunity," Newsom said. "Once a mind is stretched, it can never go back."

Should everyone go to college at today's high prices? Mayor Newsom thinks so!