School Spending by Foundations

Re “Going Beyond the Bake Sales and Carwashes,” Dec. 2:

Yes, we do live in an “exclusive Newport Beach neighborhood.” What the article fails to mention, however, is that in that neighborhood lies an elementary school where 28% of the children qualify for a government-sponsored school lunch program!

How wonderful it is that there are citizens with purely altruistic motives who are willing to spend countless hours, with courage and perseverance, to form a grass-roots organization and build it into a foundation that hopes for $2 million by 2000, and that this foundation will benefit all children at Newport Elementary. Shouldn’t such a foundation be celebrated and shine as a beacon for other districts to try and do the same?

Instead, much is said about the “issue of equity” created when foundations are formed, and that this tears at the fabric of public schools being public.

What about the inequity of government spending between schools in different states? I’d say that the almost $5,000 per year more spent on New Jersey students creates a significant inequitable situation. Whether more dollars spent per student matters is a separate, debatable issue. Rather, the important point is local control on how the money is spent.

Furthermore, if on the one hand the amount of money received through private donations doesn’t amount to much compared to the school budget, then why would it be worrisome to the state PTA that the policy makers will think that private money is filling in the gap?

Rather than be critical of local school foundations, the state PTA should continue to lobby Sacramento to bring our spending up to New Jersey. In the meantime, no one wants to sacrifice their child’s education while waiting for that to happen.

NANCY ARNOLD

Newport Beach