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Bake sales and bingo nights simply aren't enough anymore to raise supplemental funds for California's public schools. As the needs of schools become greater and more complex, it now takes a committed group of fund-raisers with coordinated organization to tap corporation donations and generate widespread community support. That's largely because the programs so in need of money aren't just supplemental: Budget cuts now threaten core pieces of children's education. In the past, public school foundations often raised money for extra arts and music education programs or supplemental science camps. Today, they are faced with subsidizing class-size reduction or completely funding core tutoring programs. As budget crises loom in states like California, the numbers of organized groups raising private donations for public schools continue to swell around the country. Efforts range from those like Capistrano Unified School District Foundation, which raffled off tickets to a Mercedes-Benz to help meet its $1 million goal to pay for smaller class sizes, to those of the Irvine Public Schools Foundation, which has a full-time staff working with community leaders, residents and businesses to raise the millions of dollars it takes to cover after-school tutoring offerings, the district's summer school program and class-size reduction shortfalls. How long will businesses and taxpayers be willing to devote additional money and time toward programs their tax dollars are supposed to support? Most foundations hope it won't come to that; they plan to prop up school districts' faltering budgets in the short term while working to prompt meaningful funding changes at the state and community levels, which will ease the fund-raising burden down the road. Hitting a future wall "At some point, as good as we are and as wonderfully generous as our parents are, the cost of these programs is going to outrun our ability to fund them privately," says Tim Shaw, CEO of the Irvine Public Schools Foundation. As California's largest public schools foundation with revenues of $4.5 million this year, IPSF is a national success story. The foundation works closely with the board, running the district's summer school, administering music education programs including instrument rentals, and paying for a large chunk of class-size reduction. IPSF formed in response to Irvine's unique dilemma - it is a growing district still designated as rural under the state funding model. The result is that Irvine receives less money per student than many of Orange County's surrounding school districts, Shaw says. "Irvine had to confront budget challenges that most districts are now encountering much sooner," he says. "Our businesses and community place high value on schools. We have a passionate group of people who refuse to let the quality of their schools suffer." Under professional management, IPSF has provided funds and manpower to keep top programs running in the district. But Shaw notes that the district's need will eventually outpace even the most valiant efforts. Take, for instant, smaller class sizes. The Irvine school board recently decided to cut third-grade class-size reduction because it doesn't have the millions of additional dollars needed to pay for it (the state pays for a portion). The district and IPSF are hoping that SB 311 will pass and provide additional funding flexibility from the state to save the program, but there's no guarantee. For now, IPSF will continue to help the district cover the cost of smaller class sizes in kindergarten through second grade. But as teacher salaries continue to rise, the costs of smaller class sizes will only grow exponentially, forcing districts to consider raising class sizes at additional grade levels next year. Shaw sees three options - a miracle, a new state funding model, or cuts from other areas of the district's budget. "Class-size reduction is a big sexy issue, but it's a symptom of the whole," he says. "How do you make these value judgments between smaller class sizes and science education, or health clerks and teacher supplies in the classrooms, or libraries and media centers in high schools, or class-size reduction in ninth-grade math and English classes. These are horrible choices that are having to be made here." Getting everyone on board Indeed, more valuable than the funds these foundations raise is their ability to raise awareness in the community, says Susan Sweeney, executive director of the California Consortium of Education Foundations. Although education foundations became a popular philanthropic enterprise for Californians in the early 1980s after Proposition 13 sapped precious dollars out of school district's coffers, raising money is only one portion of their contribution today. These foundations, which number more than 450 in California, build relationships with community leaders and businesses that will benefit their local schools in the long run. "We're seeing (these foundations) mature and we're seeing them look at the long term, which talks about them being seen as the educational fabric of the community," Sweeney says. "Originally we thought these educational foundations were going to be the Band-Aids until things got fixed, and I think now they are seen as educational partners." By communicating with civic agencies, community groups and nonprofits, foundations herald a school district's successes and contributions. For instance, if the district needs to pass a bond, the community is already educated about how helping meet the district's needs will benefit property values and the community's economy. Foundations are also able to truly know a community's and district's unique needs. As Sweeney points out, foundations are the mirror image of their community. Like the districts and schools they serve, no two education foundations are the same - they come in all shapes and sizes, she says. "They are a way to connect a community, however you define that, with its public and it's a way to bring in untapped resources, whether that's money, volunteers, or in-kind (contributions)," she says. "There's not a cookie-cutter approach to this. We see people taking on what they perceive are needs in that community. Science education, technology, after-school enrichment, training for teachers. Often the things that are being cut from the budgets the foundations are trying to work with. Each one is very individual." Tustin's efforts Certainly the newly formed Tustin Educational Achievement with Community Help (T.E.A.C.H.) foundation is learning to balance its community's unique needs. The group formed to raise more than $1.2 million to preserve Tustin's smaller class sizes. However, President Genger Borton recognizes the need to push for more substantial, long-term changes by working with local leaders. "We're absolutely committed to resolving the problem through fund-raising for the next few months," she says. "We're also working on a long-term solution that includes lobbying for different types of funding and working with local leaders here on different types of solutions. We are definitely not advocating fund-raising year after year and doing nothing else." And even if the foundation helps find a long-term solution to fund smaller class sizes, it will continue to work on other key issues impacting children's education. "Our current focus is on class-size reduction and money for schools," she says. "But our mission is more broad to allow us to change with the times and be flexible." Sweeney expects that even more foundations like T.E.A.C.H. will form in the coming months to try to meet their local schools' needs. And the upshot will be far more than another year of smaller class sizes - it will be true grass-roots change. "We've seen an explosion of people wanting to do this," she says. "Because of the current situation, more and more are going to be working. They are part of the solution. The most exciting part is their role as kind of this engager of the community. It's important they bring in resources, but the other role in the long term is equally or more important. They are ambassadors out to the community." Jennifer Leuer of Yorba Linda is an education reporter. |
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