About Us
History
Palo Alto Partners in Education (PiE) is a nonprofit 501(c)3 foundation dedicated to enhancing educational excellence for every student in the Palo Alto Unified School District.
PiE was established in the 2004-2005 school year through a merger of two existing local foundations – Palo Alto Foundation for Education (PAFE) and All Schools Fund (ASF). PiE addresses a PAUSD school board decision to equalize funding across every school in the district by disallowing site-based funds for staffing. PiE is now the only non-profit organization that raises funds for staff at all PAUSD schools.
Since 1978 when Proposition 13 was passed, California has faced severe restrictions on school funding. Currently, California ranks 47 out of 50 states in spending per student based on Education Week’s January 2009 “Quality Counts” report. Even for a basic aid district like the Palo Alto Unified School District, spending per student is $1,000 less than the median spending per student in other top-performing school districts across the country, after adjusting for salary differences. 1
PiE’s goal is to help offset the gap in spending on our children’s education, primarily by paying for additional and much-needed PAUSD teachers and staff. Palo Alto is not the only community compelled to raise private funds for public education. Indeed, there are over 600 school foundations throughout California that raised over $130 Million in 2007 to fund vital programs in their districts. 2
1 PiE benchmark study 2006
2 California Consortium of Education Foundations (CCEF)
