The local school board is contemplating a new “gift policy” to make cash donations more equitable for all schools in the district. The proposal would no longer allow vast inequities like McKinley Elementary, which raised $30,000 last year and Pt. Dume Elementary in Malibu, which raised $300,000, to continue.
One side of the debate argues contributors to the wealthier schools might stop giving if 15 percent of the cash donation is put into a central pot to be distributed to less affluent schools, as the proposal suggests.
Others laud the proposal, saying the less affluent schools will finally get to reap the benefits of all contributions within the district.
This week, Q-Line wants to know, “Is it fair that 15 percent of cash donations be distributed throughout all schools in the district?”
Call (310) 285-8106 with your response before Thursday at 5 p.m. We’ll print them in Friday’s paper. Please limit your comments to a minute or less. It might help to think first about the wording of your response.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 11, 2003. Read the original PDF.