Q. What is Partners in Education and why was it formed?
A. Partners in Education is a parent-supported drive to raise funds to meet critical classroom needs in Palo Alto’s public schools. Partners in Education is the joint venture of the merging Palo Alto Foundation for Education (PAFE) and the All Schools Fund (ASF). Through this campaign, PAFE and ASF continue their commitment to help maintain excellence in Palo Alto schools through the generous support of parents and community members.

Q.  How is Partners in Education different from ASF and PAFE?
A.   Partners in Education is a collaborative campaign launched jointly by ASF and PAFE. PAFE, founded in 1987 to raise private funds for specific innovative programs in Palo Alto public schools, most recently raised more than $1 million for science programs at Gunn and Paly as well as $200,000 for the district’s three middle schools and an annual $100,000 teacher grant program. The All Schools Fund, created in 2002 last year provided $1.07 million to elementary schools and more than $115,000 to secondary schools.

The Partners in Education initiative is the only fundraising activities PAFE and ASF will pursue while they negotiate a merger. Partners in Education represents the uniting of the two previously separate foundations with a successful history of funds to help support Palo Alto public schools. This joint campaign brings together significant complementary strengths to better help Palo Alto children.

Q.  Who are the Partners in Education board members and how are the decisions made?
A.  As ASF and PAFE work to complete their merger during the 2004-5 school year, the boards of both organizations jointly govern the Partners in Education initiative. Decisions are made via separate votes during board meetings, often scheduled jointly. A Joint Campaign Committee, made up of members from both PAFE and ASF, helps to steer Partners in Education campaign activities.

Q.  Will ASF and PAFE still exist?
A.   ASF and PAFE will continue to exist as separate organizations until their merger is finalized and all outstanding legal requirements are met.

Q.  Why is district-wide fundraising successful and how do other local districts compare?
A.   Since the advent of Proposition 13, districts throughout California have increasingly begun to rely on private fundraising to bridge the gap between state and local property tax funding and the needs of outstanding schools. Nearby foundations like the Menlo Park Atherton Education Foundation, Los Altos Education Foundation, and Mountain View Educational Foundation provide thousands of dollars to support the schools in their districts. In fact, most surrounding school foundations raise $300 per student or more—up to $3360 per student in Woodside—to financially enhance the operations of their local schools. Last year, PAFE and ASF combined provided about $195 per student, so Palo Alto has plenty of room for growth in giving.

Q.  Why should I contribute to Palo Alto public schools through the Partners in Education Campaign?
A.  Public schools in California rely increasingly on private fundraising to deliver the kind of education that parents most want for their children. Your contribution to Partners in Education, as well as your affirmative vote for the parcel tax, will help maintain that standard of excellence in Palo Alto public schools.

In 2002, the Palo Alto School Board approved the “K-12 Staffing Rule,” which specifies that any supplemental staff employed by schools during school days must be paid for by funds raised centrally and distributed to all schools on a per-student basis. For elementary schools, the funds used for classroom aides, library and science assistants, reading specialists and other staff must therefore be raised by the centralized fundraising initiative: The Partners in Education campaign. Secondary schools need private funding to help pay for staff, materials, technology and computers, library resources, and student and staff support services. Partners in Education is working to raise funds to support these top priorities at all five Palo Alto secondary schools.

Q. Can I restrict how my Partners in Education donation is spent--e.g. only for elementary schools? Only for science?
A. Currently you may designate your donation for either elementary, secondary, or general funds. In the Past PAFE has run targeted campaigns address specific curriculum areas such as science, and this may be an option in future campaigns, but this year we are focused on raising funds to distribute back to schools.

Q. Doesn't a centralized organization mean that my school will lose control over how its money is spent?
A.   Not at all. Funds raised by Partners in Education will be distributed on a per-capita basis to principals, who will have discretion over how best to use them to meet student needs at their schools.

Q. But doesn't a centralized organization have high overhead? I want as much of my donation as possible to go to the schools.
A. Partners in Education, ASF and PAFE are staffed by volunteers. Our organizations have tightly controlled expenses for things like postage and letterhead—the very same expenses that your own school had in its direct appeal. In fact, the streamlined centralized organization is more efficient, minimizing both overall fundraising costs and overall volunteer hours.

Q.  Exactly how are the donated funds allocated to the schools and what can they be used for?
A.  Donated funds are returned to every elementary and secondary school on a per-student basis. The returned amounts are the net of the elementary and secondary campaigns. Funds raised in the elementary campaign for staffing will be available in the 2005-6 school year, as specified by the K-12 staffing rule, but funds raised for materials, student support, staff development and other key budgetary needs at the middle and high schools will be available soon after they are raised this year.

Q.  How will my donation directly contribute to my child's school?
A.  Our outstanding district libraries and librarians, SPECTRA art, reading specialists, science labs and science aides, and classroom aides are some of the programs assisted through the Partners in Education initiative for elementary schools. Every elementary school will receive the same dollars per child for this campaign, and every school can put those dollars to use where most needed.