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# Share the wealth: Board smiles on gift-sharing plan
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/share-the-wealth-board-smiles-on-gift-sharing-plan/
- Published: 2004-02-28T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T03:52:42.000Z
- Author: John Wood
- Tags: Education, Malibu, #archive-import

*Most members okay idea, try to provide school equity*

DISTRICT HDQTRS. — The wealthiest local public schools should be forced to share some of their money, members of the local school board agreed Thursday night.

Five of the seven educators indicated in a board discussion they would support a mandatory sharing plan, calling it crucial in the quest for equity in local schools. No vote was taken and details of the policy still have to be hammered out.

The controversial plan has pitted many members of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District against one another. Opponents call the policy an unfair “tax” that will quell the enthusiasm of many generous donors.

When it was first proposed last year, the plan called upon all schools in the district to contribute 15 percent of their cash donations to a central fund, which would then ferret out the money to schools based on their respective size and need. The policy was later watered down so that wealthy schools could keep more of their money, but it still met with ample criticism.

Board members agreed at their previous meeting to forego the details and discuss whether a mandatory policy should be put in place at all. Though no formal vote was taken Thursday, the discussion indicated board members Emily Bloomfield, Julia Brownley, Oscar de la Torre, Jose Escarce and Maria Leon-Vazquez all were in favor of a mandatory policy.

> “In the discussions, I think we’ve lost sight that this is a policy about the board accepting gifts, it is not a tax,”

> “It is not a panacea, but it is a step in the right direction to provide equity and access to all of our students in our quest to close the achievement gap.” — Brownley added

Mike Jordan and Shane McLoud are the apparent dissenters.

The board directed staff to perform some research and return with more detailed information about how much money the individual schools raise, among other things. A decision on the matter is expected at either the March 4 or March 11 meetings.

Though de la Torre and Brownley said they would prefer a more aggressive policy, it is unclear how the majority of board members will vote on that issue. Brownley on Friday defended the proposal against its most frequent criticism.

“I have a fundamental belief that fundraising will not decline, but will only continue to increase,” she said. “If we find that fundraising declines dramatically, we can revisit the policy.

Much of the opposition to the plan has come from wealthy schools in Malibu that raise far more funding than do their Santa Monica counterparts. For example, McKinley Elementary raised about $30,000 from donors last year, while Pt. Dume Elementary accrued at least $300,000\. The stated goal for fundraising at Malibu High School is $1 million.

But not all the opposition is from Malibu. McLoud, who teaches at an elementary school in South Central Los Angeles that attracts only a few hundred dollars in donations each year, has urged the board to pursue alternatives.

“I don’t think we should alter someone’s charity,” McLoud has said. “I think we should, instead, be recognizing it, honoring it and asking for the spirit of that contribution to voluntarily help the schools that really need it.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 28, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/022804.pdf?ref=smdp.com)