Who should pay to wash the towels?

Erin Shachory, the mother of students at Riverside Drive Elementary School in Sherman Oaks, writes:

At a recent PTA meeting, we were lucky to have as a guest speaker Tamar Galatzan, an L.A. Unified board member and mother of a kindergartner at Riverside.   

I have to admit that I’m no activist.  I am just a mom, and not a very political one at that, but the $460-million budget shortfall that’s expected for LAUSD next year makes my blood boil.  Going into the meeting, I had half expected Ms. Galatzan to give us some good news or at least tell us what we can do to make a difference.  And, to a small degree, that happened.  But the “bad news” was abundant, and I have a feeling it was only the tip of the iceberg.

The “buzz” of the evening came when Ms. Galatzan told us that one of the line items that the school board would vote on involves $6 million for laundering gym towels.  You read that right.  My kids’ school would have no P.E. if our parents didn’t pay for it, but somewhere in the district, students not only have P.E. but also fresh towels for their post-workout showers. 

Is something wrong here?  When I was growing up, you’d bring a towel to school, take it home to wash it, and bring it back.  Yet, instead of spending money on computers, copiers, physical education, music, etc., our school board considers this a reasonable expense.  And don’t even get me started on the $90,000 for the curator of an art exhibit at the school board headquarters on Beaudry.

Our principal, Michelle Diamond, said that she’d had an operating budget of close to $1 million when she’d been at a Title 1 school. At Riverside, she has an operating budget of $48,000 for more than 600 students.  That's $76 per student a year, about $8 a month, $2 a week … or 40 cents a day!  And now, with the budget cuts in a holding pattern in Sacramento, Ms. Galatzan predicts that all LAUSD principals will be basing their budgets on an imaginary number until the state determines the budget.

Ms. Galatzan is not a doomsayer, however.  Far from it.  She was inspiring and I, like many of the parents, local principals and teachers in attendance, came away feeling as though we had elected the right person for the job -– one who can make a difference on our behalf.  She encouraged us to hold our school board members and state legislators accountable, to make them prioritize their spending so that it is in line with our expectations (e.g., PE should be mandatory; gym towels … not so much).  One idea I really liked was getting LAUSD to change to a per-pupil spending model, to even out the Title 1 funds.  And there is an email address where people can report instances of wasted money.

So the battle continues.  We have yet another school fundraiser, a fabulous gala to celebrate Riverside’s 70th birthday, and I have to stop this rant to finish making bid paddles for our live auction.  I hope we sell the previously owned Mercedes so that we can renew our PE program next year.