Policy addresses economic disparities between schools
In the midst of looming budget cuts, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified school board could make it difficult for PTAs and private donors to restore axed programs.
Superintendent John Deasy has proposed changing the district’s gift policy to forbid individual schools from using private donations to reinstate lost programs and services as a result of budget cuts. Money raised or donated would have to be equally distributed amongst all the schools to bring back programs that have been eliminated.
4C7,“We live in cities where privilege and poverty exist in pretty clear extremes,” Deasy said. “There are sections of the community that can replace the cuts and there are those that can’t, and I will do everything in my power to prevent further disequity.”
Local PTAs have been working diligently to raise enough money to cover the gaps in funding programs and buying extra supplies for their respective schools.
But some PTA organizations raise more than others, giving their school an edge. With more money, wealthier schools can hire more teacher aids to keep class sizes smaller. They can afford to give their elementary school students music and art programs not found at other schools. And their kids have access to better facilities and equipment. Franklin Elementary can raise much more from its Montana Avenue neighborhood than Edison Language Academy can from its Pico neighborhood, on the east side of town.
The school board is scheduled to vote on Deasy’s proposal at its Thursday meeting, when it’s also expected to begin slashing nearly $2.1 million from this year’s budget. The budget cuts recently became reality when the school district’s $300 parcel tax measure failed at the ballot box earlier this month.
“We don’t want some schools to be able to re-instate programs that have been cut that another school can’t afford because that could further increase the divide,” she said. “We want to take a more unified approach to bringing back services and programs.”
Sherry Orgel, president of the Santa Monica-Malibu PTA Council, said school boosters believe Deasy’s intentions are good, but the organization wants to know more about the proposal before endorsing it.
“I think everyone is waiting to learn more and know more before taking a position,” she said. “Everyone is working to preserve our education, and I think that’s where the focus is.”
Deasy and others have long argued the system creates economic disparities. They fear that during difficult economic times, those disparities will only increase in the district.
“We are not about one child, we are about every child,” Deasy said. “We are not one system when it’s convenient, we are one system all the time.”
However, the school district has a fundraising entity called the Education Foundation. If the gift policy revision is made, the Education Foundation could pool the resources of the PTAs to fund dismantled programs throughout the district, school officials said.
“I think we are a logical entity to facilitate that because we already fund raise on a district-wide basis,” said Education Foundation Executive Director Linda Gross. “We are already set up to do that, if the individual schools so chose to use us.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 20, 2002. Read the original PDF.