By Jeannie Conner

Intense state lobbying effort needed for more school funds

With California offering incentives for academic performance, one might think that the 2001 top-rated Los Altos School District would garner a significant cash bonus from the State.

Not quite. Recently, the Los Altos School District received only $27,000 from the state incentive program - a far cry from the $4 million the school district needs to keep school programs intact for the upcoming school year.

Instead, the LASD is relying on unprecedented local help to augment their shrinking budget. The Los Altos Educational Foundation, the PTAs and SOS will contribute a whopping $3.4 million in one-time monies and the current parcel tax will yield $3.1 million.

But when does the need for local fund raising end? One has to wonder whether it is wiser to continue to subsidize public education with local parcel taxes and fund raising, or demand that the state do its job and provide a fully funded public school system that works.

I believe we have to do both.

If we abandon our local financial support of public schools, it is certain that our children will not receive the same high quality education they enjoy today.

Classes would be larger, student services would be reduced. Important programs like music, art, physical education and languages would be a mere memory. For now, local funding is essential.

But it also is clear that our communities cannot - and should not - continue to carry so much of the burden for funding public schools. Schools cannot be expected to abide by the state’s demand for standards-based reform without enough money to be successful.

The LASD is fortunate to have such a giving, affluent community to rely on. Most California schools are not so lucky.

All schools deserve to be fully funded. But in order to make it happen, we must resist the temptation to put all of our efforts into finding short-term Band-Aids for today, and recognize the greater responsibility to create a better educational system for all children tomorrow.

We have the power to elect candidates who will push for financial reform. We can learn about the ways of the state legislature, advocate for ethical and responsible reform and put our muscle behind sound educational public policy.

We know that strong schools build strong communities.

Many will say that any effort to change the legislature would be long and unsuccessful. But, a wise man once said, “The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it’s the same problem you had last year.”

Surely, if we can invest millions of dollars into one-year fixes, we also have the power and influence to ignite permanent positive change in California’s underfunded educational system.

If not, what legacy are we leaving our children?