There’s no doubt that there is inequality in California’s schools. Some serve wealthy communities and have plenty of money and parental involvement to give already affluent kids a top-notch education. Others serve more impoverished communities, where parents are unable to help out or make donations to fund extra-curricular activities. Often, as in Santa Cruz, the two types of schools exist side by side in the same school district.
Many radical solutions have already been proposed, from advertising on school buses (just introduced in New Jersey) to abolishing the public school system altogether. In fact, Mother Jones has just reported that this latter proposal has been advocated by a Republican front-runner for California’s 11th Congressional District, David Harmer, whose wife happens to be a substitute teacher.
Santa Cruz City Schools board trustees are hoping to adopt a different approach, promoting “access and equity” to all schools in the district. To achieve this, they voted to establish a committee of board members, parents, principals, education foundation members and community leaders to work out ways to promote more equitable fundraising. “We have an obligation to look for ways to offer comparable programs to all students,” says Superintendent Gary Bloom.
Among the ideas being tossed around is helping schools that have difficulty raising money from parents apply for more grant programs. The grants would be used to promote extracurricular activities in disadvantaged schools. This, Bloom believes, will help to ensure that every student gets a well-rounded education. Read more at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
