Fundraising more and more common for schools
Parents group warns of troubling trend in which ‘marginalized kids’ are left behind
Public school teachers across Calgary will receive hundreds of free books for their libraries again this year thanks to an increasingly popular fundraising initiative through Indigo Books.
But while the program provides huge benefits to students in highneeds areas, a parent group says it’s part of a troubling trend where government underfunding for basic resources has forced teachers, parents and now corporate partners to fundraise more than ever just to educate kids.
“We don’t even have enough funding to fill our libraries with books, a basic necessity in education,” said Barb Silva, spokeswoman for Support Our Students, a lobby group that represents more than 3,000 families across Alberta.
“If kids don’t have access to books in school, they don’t have access to books, period. Yet we continue to focus on these temporary fundraising solutions that never allow us to focus on the real problem. And we absolve our governments of providing the necessary resources for public education.”
While high-income communities have seen parents fundraise to purchase books and computers for years, corporate brands have also seen huge growth in their contributions.
Last year, Indigo Books, Canada’s largest book and specialty gift retailer, provided over $1 million in donations to high-needs schools across the country for books and other educational basics.
In Calgary alone, Indigo’s Adopt A School Program raised $64,000 in 2017, more than quadrupling the $13,000 contributed in 2009 when the program began.
The Indigo Love of Reading Foundation, which also partners with schools for online fundraising drives to provide books at discounts, also pitched in $210,000 in Calgary last year, another big jump from the $50,000 raised in 2009.
Ariel Siller, executive director of the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation, says many public schools are struggling to provide students with the books they need to build important literacy skills.
“I’m a mother of two and I send my kids to local public schools,” Siller said. “I see that there’s a lot of fundraising that goes on by parents to support very limited and stretched budgets provided by provincial governments.
“Many high-needs schools that have limited access to additional funds for their libraries are really in need of books. Families and the community rely on the school library as a source of materials to build literacy skills.”
According to data collected from the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation and the Adopt a School Program, current school budgets only allow for one new library book a year for every three children in many economically disadvantaged communities in Canada.
In fact, teachers are spending more than $200 million of their own money each year on books and resources, an average of about $453 in individual out-of-pocket costs. Indigo says its contributions have become essential to building literacy in Canada, where 30 per cent of students still lack basic literacy skills.
“It’s incredibly impactful to provide these communities with books because these same schools otherwise might not have these books,” Siller said.
This year, nine Calgary schools have been adopted through the Adopt A School Program, including Radisson Park, a K-5 school in Radisson Heights which will receive up to 400 free books for its library.
Teachers will receive gift cards allowing them to shop for their students’ specific needs. Another 33 schools will also be eligible to receive discounts on books after participating in their own online fundraisers.
But while many local schools will benefit, many are still left behind, Silva argues, creating serious inequities among have and have-not schools.
“We are failing our most marginalized kids by filling those funding gaps that are the responsibility of the Alberta government.”
The province continues to place the responsibility for resource allocation onto local school districts like the Calgary Board of Education and the Calgary Catholic School District, even while local boards say what they receive from the province is not nearly enough
“We’ve provided CBE with more than $1.1 billion through budget 2018,” said Education Minister David Eggen. “Over 98 per cent of (the Ministry of ) Education’s budget flows to school authorities who deliver education services to students.
“School authorities continue to be responsible for determining how funding is spent to meet the needs of their students and school communities, and this includes investing in their schools and libraries.”
Marilyn Dennis, public school trustee for Wards 5 and 10, which includes many high-needs areas, admits that inequity among schools is an ongoing reality, and the CBE tries to fill gaps with limited funding.
“We know there are differences across the system in terms of resources and we try to allocate and advocate the best we can,” Dennis said.
“But there are greater needs in some communities than there are resources available.”