by Ben Adlin
When parents and teachers from a dozen southeast Seattle elementary schools introduced an experimental fundraiser last year, the goal wasn’t merely to raise money for education but also to challenge the very practice of PTA fundraising. This year, even more South End schools and community groups are uniting behind the event and its growing emphasis on equity.
Continue reading A South Seattle School Fundraiser Is Questioning School Fundraising Itselfby Neal Morton, The Hechinger Report
(This story about PTAs was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.)
In 2013, families at a Seattle high school raked in more than $100,000 for a raffle to win a Tesla Model S.
The year before, the parent teacher association at Garfield High School cleared $40,000 in raffle tickets for a Nissan Leaf. Other schools in this tech-boom city rely on lavish galas to raise as much as $422,000 in a single night, and some spend almost as much as they haul in.
During the pandemic, parents at the John Stanford International School spent $249,999 — one dollar less than the school district allows before the board steps in to review such spending — on teaching assistants for a dual language program. This year, the Green Lake Parent Teacher Association (PTA) paid about half that much to cover the cost of the elementary school’s vocal teacher and a portion of a full-time counselor’s salary, among other supports for students.
Meanwhile, in the South End, parents at Rising Star Elementary celebrate when they can cobble together even $300.
“That’s in a good year,” said Leticia Bazemore, former PTA vice president at Rising Star.
Continue reading Wealthy Families Fundraising for Public Schools Poses Troubling Equity Issues
