Video Transcript:

GLORIA PENNER(HOST): The public education system in the United States was founded on the principle of public support through tax dollars. But, as California state budget shrinks, so have the dollars returning to local schools. To make up the gap, more and more public schools in San Diego are raising money from parent-run foundations. And this is creating an educational divide between rich and poor neighborhoods. Joining me now is KPBS Reporter Joanne Faryon to talk about the growing role these private foundations are playing in public education. Welcome Joanne.

JOANNE FARYON (KPBS Reporter): Thanks for having me. 

PENNER: So, how many of these foundations are there and how much money are they raising? 

FARYON: Great question. Wish I could tell you exactly how many there are. We don't know. No one knows. And no one knows because no one is keeping track. These foundations are not required to register with their district or even register with the state department of education. We did our own informal survey. We called the various district throughout the county. From our, sort of unscientific numbers, from what we could gather, about half of the districts seem to have these foundations or are forming these foundations. Schools also have foundations, not just districts. So, it's very hard to have a grand tally. 

PENNER: Alright, but we know that the money's coming in. 

FARYON: We do. 

PENNER: So, what is it funding? 

FARYON: Well, it's funding things like re-landscaping schools. We went to one school La Jolla Elementary, and that school has a thriving foundation. Last year it raised about $450,000 and as you can see from the video, this school was just freshly painted. The school is also working on new grounds, new landscape. In comparison, we went to a school about 18 miles southest Horton Elementary that doesn't have a foundation. And now you can see that school, looks very different. It doesn't have the same type of landscaping. It hasn't been painted. Many of the buildings that you see right now have to be demolished because they're so old. 

PENNER: So, you're saying the difference is the foundation? 

FARYON: Absolutely the foundations. In this case, it is the foundations.  Some of the schools raise anywhere from a few thousand dollars to one school we went to raises more than $2 million. The money goes to things like new computers. Again, at La Jolla Elementary they had 300 Mac books, whereas you go over to Horton and they have 300 computers, but half of them are so old that they don't work. 

PENNER: We have a clip from the interview that you did with Donna Tripi, she's the principal of La Jolla Elementary, and then with Robin McCulloch, she's the principal of Horton Elementary. About their views on school foundations. Let's see the clip. 

DONNA TRIPI (Principal, La Jolla Elementary): There are schools that have foundations and schools like mine that have really hard working industrious very effective foundations and schools with foundations that don’t have the fundraising opportunities that we have. So its not equitable.

ROBIN MCCULLOCH (Principal, Horton Elementary): I would like to think members of our community no matter where they live would like our community be healthy, would like all of our children to be educated. My family is that educating children in schools like this is an immense responsibility that we all bare and its not ok to say my kid in this neighborhood should get something better then a child in another neighborhood because that’s eventually going to come back to haunt this city.

PENNER: So, what impact do you think all this private money from foundations is going to have on school funding in the future. 

FARYON: We've got to ask the question: Are these foundations letting the state off the hook? If no one's keeping track, if no one's adding up how they're changing the financial landscape of public education. We don't really know in the long run what's going to happen. Does it mean five years from now we all get letters from parents asking for $500 so our kids can go to public school? We know that this money is paying for things like teachers, for basic supplies, and again I want to be clear and make the point, that we're not trying to single out these foundations and make them out to be the bad guys. These foundations were formed because schools, school districts are not getting enough money from the state. 

PENNER: But, America has always prided itself on its model of providing free public education for its kids. I mean won't this all change when we say, "OK now we're reliant on private money to take care of things like teachers and music and arts programs."

FARYON: Absolutely. If year after year, parents are picking up the tab. Is the state really going to say, "You know what, we'll pay now." Is that really going to happen? There are parents that get letters from their school and from their districts and they say, for instance in Del Mar. "We suggest you donate $800 if you have a child in this school district." Well, what parent is going to say, "No. I'm not giving you any money." We all want to do what's best for our kids. 

PENNER: We do. And thank-you very much Joanne Faryon.