Donations are salve for painful cuts
Adequate state funding is long-term answerEvery day, the budget picture seems to get worse for schools in California. In the last two years alone, schools have been cut by $17 billion, with another $2 billion in cuts proposed for 2010-11. Schools face cuts to libraries, and arts and music programs, as well as increased class sizes. Not surprisingly, some parents are fighting back by raising private funds to replace lost state funding.
Last spring, a group of parents in Cupertino Union School District raised $2 million to fund teacher salaries and keep their elementary school class sizes low. At San Francisco’s McKinley Elementary, parents are