Students, teachers, parents struggle to bridge gaps in school funding

Christy Kampanero used to teach at Christa McAuliffe School, a Cupertino campus where teachers were well-paid, students earned high test scores and parents held bake sales and fundraisers to supplement the school's budget.

Then, in 1999, she moved to Salinas, a less-affluent area with a drastically different school environment. The restrooms at her Salinas school, funded primarily by the state, were in desperate need of cleaning and renovation

"In Cupertino, it wouldn't be stood for at all," she said.

Her experience is an example of the widening gap between schools that are dependent solely on money from the state and those that receive funding mostly through foundations, property taxes and private donations. By far, the majority of schools are state-funded but schools in wealthier areas - notably Los Gatos and Palo Alto - rely on the community to stay afloat.

When the state's finances are in turmoil, as they are now, state-funded schools feel the pinch - and that means extras such as laptop computers at Independence High School or sports programs at Piedmont Hills High School are in danger of being cut.

"We've lost our jazz choir and our laptops," said Emilie Rivard, 17, a senior at Independence. "We've had to cut or combine classes, our class sizes are bigger and teachers have been laid off. I'm disappointed in the lack of support for education."

But it's not as though parents, school administrators and students aren't trying to bring in extra funds or get other parents involved.

In Palo Alto, a fundraising group raised almost $1.2 million for schools while parents in Campbell brought in $44,000.

"People just aren't aware of the need and parents are far too busy," said Tish Bayer, president of the Campbell Education Foundation. "They expect the state to take care of all of their needs."

And those who do understand that there's a problem often don't know how they can help and sometimes simply give up.

"It's kind of swept under the carpet," said Kampanero. "It's very sad, because you see these kids and their parents struggling to make a better life for them, yet they can't get ahead."

Maria Mendoza buys school supplies for her kids and donates money - when she can - to the fundraising efforts at James Lick High School in San Jose, where her daughter Christina Martinez is a senior.

"I would volunteer but I've got four kids and I work full-time," said Mendoza. "In the richer schools, the parents have more money to pay for more things and they somehow get all the better teachers. They have better everything."

But sometimes it takes more than asking for money to get parents involved. Raising awareness about how schools are funded and how the community can help is just as challenging.

"It's hard to raise money wherever you are, especially for school, because people say, 'Look, we pay all these taxes for school already, I don't understand,'" said Deborah Stephens, a working mother who spearheaded a campaign that raised $45,000 for the music programs in the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District. "You have to explain how the schools have been impacted. You have to educate them. "

In Campbell, school officials asked last year voters to approve a parcel tax, an extra fee added to local property tax bills, to generate millions of dollars for the school. But the measure failed by less than four percent, or about 300 votes.

"One of the things we're hoping is that people realize that the only real way to sustain these programs would be through the passage of a parcel tax," said Terry Peluso, the director of administrative services for the Campbell Union High School District. "The $200,000 gathered at a fundraiser would be good for one year, but the parcel tax would sustain that program for four or five years."

At Piedmont Hills High School in San Jose, just one program - the after-school Math Mastery tutoring program - costs about $32,000.

"Every type of program needs a teacher," said principal Carol Blackerby. "A teacher, plus benefits, costs $15,000 to $30,000 a period. We used to have a literacy coach, but we lost him because it's so expensive."

A parcel tax could save the career tech center and library at Piedmont Hills, said Blackerby.

"How can you run a school with all these people without a career tech?" she asked. "And how can the district say it cares about literacy without any librarians in a school? Eventually the district did fund them but without a parcel tax, there will be a good chance they will be cut next year."

That's tough for teens to understand - especially when they see how state dollars are spent on other services.

Lincoln High School student Manana Barba, 16, looked around Cesar Chavez Park in downtown San Jose recently and wondered if the money spent on beautification of "an already decent area" could save the performing arts programs that are in danger of being cut at her school.

"I don't think it's fair or logical, especially when it comes to something as pivotal as education," she said.