Why the Need?

The Menlo Park City School District is a community-funded district, which means that state and federal government funding makes up only 11% of its budget. This amount covers only 20 days of school per year.  

Funding for school districts changed dramatically with the passage of Prop 13. Before Prop 13, districts could count on tax income to meet their funding needs. In 1978, California school budgets were upwards of $9 billion. The following year with the passage of Prop 13 – those budgets were slashed, nearly overnight, by almost 60%. California now ranks 31st in funding per student (adjusted for differences in labor costs).

Now, each of California’s nearly 1,000 public school districts receives one of two revenue classifications: districts that are limited to the funding they either receive from the state (for lower income/lower property value districts) or districts that can raise funds on their own through local property taxes and donations (for community-funded districts). MPCSD is a community-funded district, and therefore must make up most of its budget through local taxes and parent donations. Currently, 84% of the school district’s budget is generated by property, parcel, and other local taxes. But even with those sources, we still have a funding gap between what we bring in and what it costs to deliver the exceptional education we have come to expect from MPCSD.

In response to Prop 13, parents in our community founded the Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation (MPAEF) in 1982 to provide additional funding and restore the quality in our local schools.