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 10% of its funding. This amount covers only 21 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 39th in funding per student (adjusted for cost per living).

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 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.

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.