There has been a great deal of discussion in Malibu about the Santa Monica-Malibu School District’s proposed “Equity Fund.” Under this proposal, 15 percent of all cash and non-monetary gifts to individual schools would be deposited in the Equity Fund to be re-distributed to schools that received fewer donations.
In my opinion, this proposal does not go far enough. If “equity” is the goal, why limit it to cash and non-monetary gifts? For example, parental involvement helps determine academic success. I propose that parents who work in the classroom have to spend 15% of their time in schools where the parents do not spend as much time. But we can’t stop there. The appearance of a school contributes to students’ positive feelings about their school that translates into academic success. At schools like Juan Cabrillo, parents grow gardens to enhance the school. Parents who garden will have to spend 15% of their time gardening at schools that do not have gardens.
There are many more applications. Parents who do lunchtime duty and supervise the playgrounds will have to spend 15% of their time at schools where lunchrooms have below average parental involvement because nutrition is a key to academic performance. At many schools, parents help with car drop-offs to ensure that kids get to school safely. Having children get run over in the parking lot obviously leads to lower academic performance.
Parents who get up early and give their time to supervise parking will have to spend 15% of their time at another school where fewer parents do these jobs. This is a start, but I’m sure Superintendent Deasy can come up with others to ensure equity since he had the intelligence and good sense to propose the “Equity Fund.” In fact, I’m amazed that he didn’t already think of it. We are quite fortunate to have someone of his vision running the district.
Dr. Gary Green