Articles about Equity & PTO Funding
National Articles Defining the Problem
2022: Here's How Much Money LA Parents Are Fundraising For Schools, And What It Buys
by Kyle Stokes, LAist (Jan 10, 2022)
2021: Should rich families be allowed to fundraise a better public school education for their kids?
by Neal Morton, The Hechinger Report (June 14, 2021)
2019: First person: Parent fundraising made my school a great place to teach. I was grateful...
...until I realized the cost, by Anna Noble, THE COLORADO INDEPENDENT (December 10, 2019)
2018: Parent-Led Fundraising Makes Some Schools Better but Leaves Others Behind
by Karen Weese, SLATE (NOV 26, 2018)
2018: Fundraising and Fairness: The challenges of school fundraising for equity-minded educators
by Sue Winton, EDCAN NETWORK (September 26, 2018)
2018: Equity Questions in School-Based Fundraising Still Fester
by Carole Levine, NONPROFIT QUARTERLY (March 21, 2018)
2017: Parents raise massive amounts of money at some public schools. Should they share it?
by Kitson Jazynka, WASHINGTON POST (March 19, 2018)
2017: The Outsized Role of Parent Contributions in School Finance
Hidden Money, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS (April 8, 2017)
2017: PTA Gift for Someone Else’s Child? A Touchy Subject in California
by Dana Goldstein, NYTIMES, (April 8, 2017)
2015: How Philanthropy Props Up Public Services and Why We Should Care
by Beth Gazley, NONPROFIT QUARTERLY (March 15, 2015)
2014: How Budget Cuts and PTA Fundraising Undermined Equity in San Francisco Public Schools
SF PUBLIC PRESS (Feb. 3, 2014)
2011: What Happens When Petulant Parents Won’t Share? School Funding Inequities, That’s What
by Helaine Olen, SLATE (November 10, 2011)
Attempts to Address the Problem
2022: Pioneering parents share fundraising across University City schools (Missouri)
by Blythe Bernhard, ST LOUIS POST DISPATCH, (August 1, 2022)
2022: Can We Fix the One Big Problem with the PTA? (Evanston)
by Sarah Jaffe, ROMPER (August 10, 2022)
2022: Making sure all Seattle students benefit from donor support
by Jennifer Hemmingsebn, SEATTLE TIMES ( May 27, 2022)
2021: A tale of two schools:Framingham wants to make school PTO funding more equitable and fair (MA)
by Zane Razzaq, METROWEST DAILY NEWS (July 26, 2021)
2021: Arlington PTA Leaders Consider Ways to Distribute Funding More Equitably (Virginia)
by Jo DeVoe, ALR NOW (July 15, 2021)
2021: Minneapolis schools examine equity in fundraising
by Mara Klecker, STAR TRIBUNE (June 28, 2021)
The Issue in Ann Arbor
2023: Michigan’s Schools Are An “Engine of Inequality.” The New Legislature Wants to Fix it
by Hope O’Dell, THE GANDER (January 27, 2023)
2023: Making PTO funds equitable for all schools is goal of Ann Arbor parent group
by Martin Slagter, MLive (Jan. 30, 2023)
2017: Ann Arbor parents raise millions for schools as state aid drops
by Lauren Slagter, MLive (Oct. 16, 2017)
2017: Parent groups spend millions on Ann Arbor schools; see who raises the most
by Lauren Slagter, MLive (August 18, 2017)
2017: The College-Town Achievement Gap: Persistent inequality plagues the places some prestigious
...universities call home. Are the higher-education institutions to blame?, by Erik Gleibermann, THE ATLANTIC (June 1, 2017)
2013: Closing the Gap Community Perspectives On Educational Equity in Ann Arbor
Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice (May 2013)