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Letters
March 24, 2004

As part of our series, we asked visitors to our Web site to submit their comments about the prevalence of fundraising activities in schools. Below is a sample of those comments. More comments will be added as they are submitted.

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I have two kids in one of the area's highly selective private schools, and I work at four different schools in the Minneapolis district, so I have observed fundraising activities at a variety of sites.

The PTA at Burroughs Community School, in southwest Minneapolis, has done an increasingly fine job of raising money. Barton School, where my children used to attend, is legendary for its excellent fundraising, including a major plant sale spearheaded by an incredibly dedicated teacher, with wide participation from the entire community. The PTAs at these two schools raise, I think, something on the order of $50,000-$60,000 per year for their schools.

I have heard many private school parents disparage the public schools for "waste" ... but then turn around and pay high tuitions and contribute to annual funds, even though the public schools ... do it for far less than $15,000 per child. - Michael Wilson, Minneapolis

The money-raising operations at the top private schools are also legendary, raising upwards of $1 million per year. I have always been somewhat perplexed by the private schools' need for fundraising of this magnitude, on top of the $15,000 per year per child that parents are already paying.

A standard fundraising approach is the "fair-share" request. At my children's school, we are told that costs exceed what we're already paying by about $1,800 per year.

I have heard many private school parents disparage the public schools for "waste," and for not being able to live within their budgets, but then turn around and pay high tuitions and contribute to annual funds -- even though the public schools have a far harder task and do it for far less than $15,000 per child.

A particular angle for this fundraising issue, I feel, is the "have-not" schools, the inner-city schools that can't raise money because there isn't any to be had.

I spend half my time at a school on the near north side of Minneapolis, in the Jordan neighborhood, where 98 percent of the students qualify for free and reduced-cost meals. There is no fundraising going on here, because the school feels that most of our families are struggling just to meet the most basic of needs.

An example: I have a Target VISA card and have designated my north side school as the beneficiary. When I suggested to administration several years ago that this opportunity could be publicized among our parents, given that there was (at the time) a Target store about six blocks away, I was reminded that, (1) a great many of our parents couldn't qualify for a credit card, and (2) the school would not want to do anything that might encourage families to spend money they didn't have.

Yes, there is some additional funding that flows to schools with high concentrations of students living in poverty. But it sure would be nice to have the $60,000 that Burroughs and Barton parents raise annually, or the $1 million that private school communities raise annually, as purely discretionary money here at my north side school. Michael Wilson, Minneapolis, Minn.

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In 1994, the White Bear Lake School District was dealing with huge budget cuts, which meant they had to lay off approximately 70 teachers. A group of business people in the community wanted to help the district hire teachers back, so they began to raise money through their contacts in the community. Well, they only raised about $40,000 (one teacher, maybe), and they realized what a huge hole that would be to try to fill.

Lesson learned: The expense of public education is huge, and is rightfully the state and federal government's job. Also, it is currently the only way our country can attempt some semblance of equity in our public schools across socio-economic lines.

I would be very disappointed if public school foundations became an excuse for our government leaders to shun the responsibility of funding public education appropriately. - Colleen O'Keefe, White Bear Lake

The good thing that came from their attempt to help pay teachers' salaries was the birth of the White Bear Lake Area Educational Foundation. Our mission is to assist the school district in providing excellence in education for all students.

We are currently asking the question, "What is our role in the economic hardships of the White Bear Lake Area Schools?" After all, there will be $2.3 million in cuts made for next year!

My general sense is that we will continue to fund above and beyond the school district's general business needs (teachers, curriculum, etc.). Through teaching grants we currently fund projects that help the teachers deal with larger class sizes, equipment that can help teachers get more students involved in the learning process, etc.

I think the early lesson of the people who started the foundation was that it would be very, very difficult for a small non-profit to raise the kind of money needed to maintain programs and staffing levels, and then be able to sustain it for any length of time.

For me personally, I would be very disappointed if public school foundations became an excuse for our government leaders to shun the responsibility of funding public education appropriately. Colleen O'Keefe, White Bear Lake, Minn.

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