Wealthy parents in public school districts across the country are engaged in elaborate fund-raising efforts to improve the quality of education in their children's schools, giving them an advantage over families in schools without the same level of access to external resources. Through evaluating parent responses to district policies that address…

The Boone Hope Foundation has given away over $130,000 in gift cards, rent checks, and eyeglasses--all targeted to help students with emergency needs related to food, clothing, shelter, and healthcare in its rural Iowa community. This is the story of teachers from a typical Midwestern school--relatively small and certainly not affluent--who have…

Given the lean times in education today, a coordinated fund-raising effort could highly benefit public K-12 education. An office of development could coordinate grant writing, interaction with foundations, corporate partnerships, the development of endowed chairs, and individual fund raising and manage local fund raisers. Development follows three…

Even though Joel lived a continent away, many sixth-graders at a Title I school in California could easily identify with his life of poverty. Their empathy motivated them to launch an ambitious charitable project, which, Mr. Mitchell argues, had far greater educational value than the relentless test preparation that is standard fare in most…

Concerned about maintaining schooling quality in a tight-money climate, parents and others are turning to local education foundations for needed dollars, equipment, and services. Although large philanthropic foundations have contributed significantly to public education since the 1950s, locally funded and operated education foundations have…