Pamela Cutkosky sent her daughters back to school last week carrying emergency forms, permission slips and about $1,000 in checks for the school and PTA.
That’s not counting the $1,000 that the foundation supporting the Palo Alto Unified School District requested from the two girls. Because Cutkosky donated to that group, Partners in Education, last spring, she’s holding off a bit on her 2006-07 gift.
As schools around the South Bay open, public school parents are again engaged in a peculiar rite of the academic year: making private contributions for schools they already fund with their tax dollars. This year, the pleas are even more intense, as a growing number of community foundations vie with PTAs, home and school clubs and other groups for support.
Palo Alto illustrates the trend. This year PTAs are asking for as much as $350 per child, and the education foundation, known as PiE, is suggesting $500 a student. Teachers and supporters of sports, music, science, technology, libraries and journalism also are seeking money now.