We have cities that care

In this season of giving, we applaud the ingenuity of local cities in their hands-on approach to helping public schools during the state’s budget crisis.

The Calabasas Education Fund (CEF) recently approved funding the salary of a new counselor at Calabasas High School for two years. During the year, the CEF has provided money for a counselor, a librarian and a vice principal at Calabasas middle schools.

The city of Calabasas is unique in that it’s taken a direct role in making sure that public schools within city limits are properly funded. The city/school partnership was a brilliant move at a time when the state of California couldn’t be trusted. Earlier this year, schools made a deal with legislators to help get the state out of its financial mess. It was agreed that Prop. 98, which guarantees minimum funding to schools, would be temporarily suspended as long as school district budgets were untouched in the future.

Now there’s talk of reneging on the deal.

Las Virgenes Unified School District works with the city of Agoura Hills Redevelopment Agency to maintain infrastructure at Agoura High and Lindero Canyon Middle schools. The city has given about $1.2 million to LVUSD since 2000.

Recently, Agoura Hills became a model by using redevelopment agency money to launch first-time homebuyer programs for teachers, police officers, firefighters and other public workers who couldn’t ordinarily afford to live in such an affluent city.

Because the CEF is so well endowed by the city of Calabasas, the LVUSD School Board is sensitive to the possibility of future inequities between schools within the district. There has always been and always will be funding disparities from school to school. Local parent-faculty associations try to raise money to fund their particular needs. Lupin Hill Elementary School, Sumac Elementary School and A.E. Wright Middle School receive Title 1 funds from the federal government to pay for specialized programs at their schools only. White Oak Elementary has often been the only recipient of community development grants from the city of Westlake Village for equipment needs or other one-time expenses. Schools vie for state grant money—some qualify, some don’t.

We live in cities that care for citizens and public education. And we’re thankful for that.