"Help me understand something"

Some parents are wildly confused by Direct Donation and have questions like:   

1. "Isn't the Government supposed to pay for everything at school?"  

2. "Don't my taxes pay for our school?" 

3. "When I was a kid in school no one asked my parents for money. Why now?" 

4. "This is a public school not private why is there a Direct Donation Campaign?"  

5. "I did not grow up in the United States.  How can I make sense of donating money to my child's public school?   

All of these are good questions.   And the answers are simple. 

1. The State and The District (LAUSD) pay for the school buildings, some supplies, teachers salaries and some staff salaries.    They only pay for the BASIC minimum.   They used to pay for a lot more but that dried up some time ago.   A number of years ago  public schools in California and the rest of the United States started to go to parents to make up the difference in order to help run their schools.   

2. Basically, No.  Taxes were disconnected from local schools many years ago.  Google "Taxes and California Schools" for more information.  

3. If you were a student in a California public school before 1980, your parents most likely did not need to help your school with donations beyond a random bake sale or carnival.  Prior to 1980 there were more funds from local and federal monies allocated to public schools.   There were more resources and more staff at that time as well. 

4. LACES is a public school with an academic bar as high as any top private school.  The difference between a private school and LACES  is that the private school can increase tuition every year while they keep the bar up.   Unfortunately, LACES has not had its funding increased.  It has had instead experienced major cuts.  The Direct Donation campaign is a way for FOL to bring in much needed funds to support LACES academic excellence.   

5. Donating money to public schools is foreign to many Americans over a certain age.  And it must be even more confusing to people who grew up outside of the USA.    Please know that your donation  helps LACES teachers, staff and students.   The money does not go to any individual.   It does not go to one department.   Each dollar is put to use to help the whole school.    

Remember the difference between a good School and a GREAT school is parents donating to Direct Donation.