Parents are donating too much money to public schools. Every year about $30, 000, 000 is donated to schools in British Columbia. The government should be paying for more of the equipment and supplies in order to reduce the amount of donations that are required to run the schools. If all this money were going to non profit organizations rather than schools they would be getting a substantial per year. When fund-raisers are put together they are usually private donations. The amount of money from donations depends on whether the schools are in rich or poor neighbourhoods.
As a result the required amount of money for some schools might not be met. I think that if less money is needed to be raised, parents won’t have to spend as much time as they do helping schools in their spare time. Consequently, all schools would receive equal equipment and supplies. It seems that money is being raised for things that are essential in school, but should already be supplied by the government, items such as text books, maps, and computers. Parents shouldn’t have to pay for computers in schools. If this is supposed to be part of the curriculum the government should pay for it.
Some of the things that require fundraising should be available to teachers and students without fundraising. Furniture, for example, is necessary to help teachers and students in the classroom. Another reason that funding for schools should be left to the government is because there are many non-profit and charitable organizations that could use the $30, 000, 000 from school fundraising efforts. Charitable organizations rarely get money from the government and they need all the money they can get from donations. If you spread out $30, 000, 000 per year between the top 11 recognized charitable organizations, each organization would get a total of $2, 727, 272 per year. The amount of time parents spend fundraising is also an issue.
It takes a lot of time from many people to put these things together and raise money. Parents could spend their time doing better things rather than using their weekend to wash cars or work at a flea market. Instead, they could donate some of their time to another charitable organization. My final argument against parent driven fundraising centers on the fluctuating amount of money that can be raised in certain areas and why. A school in Vancouver’s West Side starts a fund raiser because they are low on school supplies. They manage to raise a cool $32, 000, while in another part of town a school has been trying and trying to raise money and they have so far only got $200.
Certain schools are raising different amounts of money because of where they are located. If you are trying to raise money in a place where the community doesn’t have that much money it’s not very likely you ” re going to get the amount you ” re hoping for. It’s not fair that schools in wealthy communities have so much more than poorer communities. I feel strongly about this subject, and I think everyone should take the future of our education system into consideration.
In conclusion, the quality of education affects the quality of our lives. If fundraising is the only answer then some schools won’t have the same quality education as others. If the government is not giving out essential supplies for school then some students won’t go as far as others. Good education is essential to everyone, not just those who can afford it.