It’s widely known that Irvine Unified is one of the best public school districts in the county if not the state. Because the state still classifies Irvine as a “rural” district, the amount of funding per student is well below state average and equaliziation efforts by our elected officials in the State Assembly and State Senate have been – in a word – awful.
The Irvine Public Schools Foundation is launching a new fundraising drive to make up for anticipated budget cuts that will devastate an already cash poor school system.Â
IRVINE PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOUNDATION
Five Week Campaign
IPSF is responding to the budget challenges facing all 27,000 students by launching a 5-Week Campaign to raise funds for Classroom Support. IUSD and the Board of Education will need a firm commitment by March 1 of how much they will be able to budget and we are asking for your help to commit as much as possible.
Dollars raised will impact every school in the district:
This means that each principal will have the discretion to use donated dollars to help mitigate the cuts. Schools can utilize the funds to provide additional staff support such as aides and additional teacher hours.  This will help to lessen the effects of having to increase class sizes on your child.
This is not the first time that we’ve raised funds for Classroom Support:
In 2008-2009 IPSF donated a total of $991,000 to support students in the classrooms. The funds were used by IUSD in the following ways:
- Teacher support in larger elementary classrooms by supporting salaries for aides.
- Provide extra teacher hours in middle schools and high schools
Please visit the IPSF website, www.ipsf.net/donations . You can make a gift of any amount online through the secure sever. Or, consider giving just a dollar a day and join the IPSF 365 Club. Donations can also be mailed to IPSF, 18552 MacArthur Blvd, Suite 200, Irvine, CA 92612.
What is interesting about this is that despite the budget disparity, Irvine schools are among the best in the state. Proof that more money doesn’t necessarily make schools better.
Wrong. Irvine parents give money generously to make sure our schools don’t suffer due to the lack of funding. In many respects, it’s an unfair tax on the parents of Irvine school children. The city itself beenfits from the great schools by maintaining high home values and a strong economy; comanies want to be here for the business clinmate and the well educated workforce who can send their kids to great schools.