Why do we have to raise money for a public school?
Each year, the Richardson Independent School District is mandated to send money back to the state as directed by the current "Robin Hood" system of school finance. In 2008-09, over 20.3 million dollars will be returned through this program. It means that students in RISD will receive $5927 per student in education funding after recapture—the national average is over $8,000 per student. Extra funds are necessary to provide the extras that keep Pearce academically strong.
How is the money raised?
The Fund raises money through a series of events, a teacher wish list and a solicitation campaign. Each year, approximately $65,000 is raised, to fund activities for that school year. Over $400,000 has been raised since the funds inception in 2004, and used to enhance learning for all students at Pearce High Schools, and to enhance our teacher’s ability to educate students.
How has the money been spent?
Some of the ways your donations have been spent include:
- Purchasing extra copies of books for English, Latin and Spanish teachers; providing SAT study guides; paying for field trips to museums and educational exhibits; and keeping the library and computer lab open extra hours every morning and after school for kids who need a place to meet a tutor, finish a paper or do research.
- Providing TI Navigator calculators for math teachers to sync with their students’ calculators, to figure out exactly how they are doing a problem; Making science more effective by purchasing materials and equipment for experiments and demonstrations;
- Sending teachers to state-of –the-art conferences in their area of expertise- math, science, English - because it helps them bring back lots of great ideas to our students, and encourages them to stay at Pearce; and provide substitutes for teachers to attend conferences and staff development during the school year; -
- Through the Wish List, which allow parents and Pearce supporters to fulfill wishes of a specific teacher or department, teachers have received DVD players to use in class, materials for the Academic Decathalon program, bookshelves for classrooms, dictionaries, and much more.
Additional funds are used to purchase other items that enhance the teachers’ classrooms and the students’ learning experience, such as technology upgrades, visual aids, study guides, extra copies of novels, and test prep materials.