Smoothies For Schools: Do They Help?

There are many ways, big and small, that parents are asked to support our local schools. From donations at onsite registration, to ordering gift wrap and cookie dough, to bidding at silent auctions, I have reached into my pocketbook many times. The question is, does donating really help?

Donating feels good. And it does provide extras for our students. Pleasanton's donors are incredibly generous. Still, when the district's budget is over $100 million per year, donations are really just a drop in the bucket. We can't really hope to make up for $20 million cut from the budget over the last three years just in donations. Is it worth it to try?

I see three problems with donations and fundraisers as a way to fund schools. First, schools are reluctant to rely on private donations to fund salaries — and with good reason. Donations are a one-time thing, not an ongoing revenue stream, and hiring staff is an ongoing commitment. Schools are conservative with their budgeting, in the sense that they want to avoid hiring someone whose salary will be paid with one-time donations.

The second problem is a consequence of the first: in a town where people are very generous about donating, we end up with lots of "things" paid for in our schools, even while we are seeing the school staff shrink. It's much easier to raise money through donations for a computer in every classroom than it is to raise money to pay the salary of the teacher in that classroom.

The third problem is a big one, and looming larger recently for Pleasanton. When private donations are used to backfill, to pay for line items that used to be part of the budget for public schools, it looks as if there are no holes in the budget. As fast as the state legislature decreases funding for schools, private donors in communities like Pleasanton step up with increased giving. There's no easy way to tell which computers were paid for with taxpayer funds and which were paid for with private donations. No wonder people outside the schools are baffled by the brouhaha about an emergency in state funding for education — it is harder to see the consequences of cuts in towns like ours. It is understandable that people who are not involved in fundraising might remark that "the schools still have money for new computers — they really don't need more tax dollars."

In the end, is it right to give? It improves the educational experience of my child now, so it seems wrong to keep my wallet shut. That's why you'll see me, tomorrow, buying a smoothie after school. (After school on Wednesdays, the Alisal PTA will be selling smoothies for $4. The proceeds of the sales for the next few weeks will be donated to the CORE campaign. Stop by and buy one if you'd like!)

Still, I know that fundraising for salaries, like the salaries of the K-3 teachers who could allow our class sizes to stay at 25 instead of increasing to 30, is a formidable challenge. It's probably not sustainable. But it is a natural impulse given our current budgetary challenges.