‘A’ for inequity
Parent-led fundraising leads to inequality between Coney Island schools
Mark Twain School for the Gifted and Talented’s parent association annually raises about $300,000 more than other Coney Island schools. Google
COURIER LIFE, DEC. 6-12, 2019 5
BY ROSE ADAMS
A recent study unveiled
the massive funding discrepancies
between Coney Island
schools fueled by Parent
Teacher Association fundraising
efforts, which one
lawmaker said perpetuates
racial and socio-economic
inequities throughout the
People’s Playground.
“It’s very concerning to me
— the depths of inequalities
in our school district,” said
Councilman Mark Treyger (DConey
Island), who sponsored
legislation requiring education
offi cials to release PTA
funding data. “This report
clearly shows that your zip
code does impact the amount
of opportunities for your children
and your school system.”
While some Coney Island
schools rake in hundreds of
thousands of dollars through
parent-led fundraisers, others
receive exactly nothing.
The PTA at Mark Twain IS 239
for the Gifted and Talented,
located on Neptune Avenue
by W. 25th Street, raised over
$330,000 last year — towering
over the other PTAs in the
neighborhood, which generally
raised $40,000 or less annually.
The parent org at PS 329
Surfside — located only fi ve
blocks away from Mark Twain
— raised $202 in 2018, which
equals out to $0.52 per student.
The PTAs at Brighton Beach’s
PS 253 and Gravesend’s John
Dewey High School raised no
money last year.
PTA funding also shows
some racial disparities, with
schools serving predominantly
Black and Latino students
bringing in less PTA
money on average than predominantly
white schools.
Mark Twain — a magnate
school serving kids throughout
the city — is 51-percent
White and just over six-percent
Black, while PS. 329 Surfside
is only six percent White
and 61-percent Black, data
shows.
The additional money
brought in by parent fundraisers
typically bankrolls school
trips, art and music teachers,
after-school classes, and all
other programs outside the
core curriculum. As a result,
schools without the advantage
of well-heeled parents suffer a
defi nitive disadvantage, Treyger
said.
“PTA funds can hire art
music teachers. They can fund
after school activities, they
can fund trips around the
world,” he said, adding that
the PS 288 on W. 25th Street
almost had to cut its stepping
dance program because of a
funding shortage.
Treyger emphasized that
he doesn’t blame parents for
not giving more money to
their schools. Instead, he put
the onus on the Department
of Education for perpetuating
a system that further divides
schools’ funding based on students’
socio-economic status.
“If a school did not raise
any money, it does not mean
that the community doesn’t
care about education. It means
that they lack capacity,” Treyger
said.
Some argue that the disparities
in PTA funding schools
are not as alarming as they
seem, since schools serving
low-income students receive
extra city and state funding,
as well as federal Title 1 funds
that offset the differences in
PTA money, Chalkbeat reported.
But Treyger claimed
that only a small portion of
that supplemental funding
goes to forming or maintaining
a PTA.
“The schools have to use
one-percent of those federal
resources for parent resources
and parent activities
… but a principal can use that
money to start a workshop;
they don’t have to use that to
start a PTA.”
Treyger argued that the
city should be required to fund
PTA resources at all schools,
which would jumpstart PTAs,
direct more money to enrichment
programs, and increase
community engagement.
“They should provide a
baseline amount of funding
and support to ensure they
have active PTA organizations,”
he said.