Should the haves share the dollars they raise with the have-nots?

10-10-2011

Opinion by Jill Duman/Sacramento Bee

Jill Duman is a journalist, parent and part-time playground attendant who lives in Davis.

After the 10-for-one sales on school supplies, long before the Valley nights turn from hot and still to cold and windy, the school fundraising season officially begins. Up for sale: magazine subscriptions, pre-formed balls of cookie dough, chocolates and nuts, wrapping paper, substantial and glittering for the upcoming holiday season. Next up: walkathons, jumpathons, spellathons, garden tours and auctions, some events netting tens of thousands of dollars for public schools with donations coming from parents, grandparents and businesses. This is the reality of California public education in the 21st century in a state that ranks below Louisiana in per-pupil school spending, where everything from the latest classroom technology to a vegetable garden and greenhouse is available – but only to public school kids with the cash to support them. (more...)

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Should the haves share the dollars they raise with the have-nots?

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