Parents go all out to aid schools

It’s not uncommon now to auction off big-ticket items at fancy galas and send out massive direct-mail appeals. And the money raised, traditionally earmarked for extra items outside the school budget, is increasingly put toward the basics — such as staff salaries.

“If you’re not going to have librarians, you’re not going to raise money for books,’’ said Marie Meteer, a lead organizer of a $1 million drive in Arlington seeking to avert heavy staff layoffs.

The Arlington campaign, believed to be the largest to date in Massachusetts, signals public schools’ growing dependence on private donations, educators and parents say. A decade ago, school districts received $10 million in private funds. Last year, it was $27 million, according to the state education department.

The Lexington Education Foundation, for instance, donated well over $400,000 last year, twice as much as in 2004. In Wellesley, organizers have raised more than $1 million in less than four years, while Wayland has donated $1.3 million in the past seven. Cohasset parents are close to completing a $220,000 drive for two new language labs, while grants to Falmouth schools have tripled since 2006.

Fund-raisers acknowledge that pressure is growing to pay for general expenses.

“It’s a delicate line, and we’re all really struggling with it,’’ said Deborah Rourke, co-president of the Lexington Education Foundation. She noted that the foundation provides financing for far more technology than in the past.

Supporters of private donations, primarily parents of school-age children, say they feel obligated to stave off budget cuts that might compromise their children’s education, even if they grumble about the extra burden. If they can prevent their child’s classroom from losing an aide or gaining six more students, it’s worth it, they say.

But critics sound a cautionary note. Private donations, which have risen as school systems threaten to lay off teachers and eliminate academic programs, deepen financial inequalities among districts, create a culture of dependence, and splinter the social compact to share the costs of local schools, they say.

“It gets away from the true notion of a public education,’’ said Rosemary Driscoll, president of the Natick Education Foundation, one of some three dozen such nonprofits across the state. “But I think the pressure is only going to get greater and greater.’’

Like most school foundations, Natick’s has been careful not to pay for primary expenses, such as teacher salaries. But Arlington’s campaign targets core costs, chiefly teacher salaries and benefits. It’s a break with tradition that many view with trepidation.

“We don’t fund things we think should be funded by the schools,’’ said Skye Morrison Kramer, who directs the Brookline Education Foundation. “It’s a philosophical decision.’’

Organizers in Arlington share their reluctance, but say that with the district facing a budget hole of nearly $4 million, practical concerns outweigh principle.

“It’s the last thing we wanted to do,’’ said Amy Speare, a key organizer. “This really should be spread across all taxpayers. But this is an extreme situation, and people want to help.’’

Parents launched the campaign in late April, and have raised some $425,000, recently receiving $20,000 in donations per day. Administrators, who plan to eliminate well more than 50 staff positions and all crossing guards, say they will use the contributions to minimize layoffs.

Despite the schools’ budget woes, town leaders have chosen not to bring a tax-increase measure to voters given the poor economy. But organizers of the fund, named “Bridge The Gap’’ to emphasize its short-term nature, say the town shouldn’t get used to private donors coming to its financial rescue.

“We’re committed to this being a one-time deal,’’ Meteer said.

In Winchester, parents raised well over $800,000 in 2005 and 2006 combined to minimize teacher layoffs after two tax-increase measures failed at the polls. They praise Arlington’s undertaking, but empathize with the organizers’ hesitance.

“It’s something education foundations have been agonizing over the past five years,’’ said Caren Connelly, executive director of the Winchester Foundation for Educational Excellence. “Philosophically, almost to a person, we were against paying for salaries with private donations. But we had a sense we were up against a wall.’’

Despite such reluctance, many see Arlington’s effort as a harbinger of similar campaigns. If a prosperous town like Arlington resorts to passing the hat to keep teachers and crossing guards, other communities are sure to follow.

“The old rules of the game no longer apply,’’ said Alan Fanger, a Needham parent who has urged town leaders to allow private donations to combat budget woes. “It’s a difficult pill for some people to swallow, but the existing system is no longer workable in the current fiscal environment.’’

Some communities have previously turned down private donations for school operating expenses, worried that such gifts could create budget havoc or result in an unhealthy dependence on private money. In 2006, the Newton schools returned $50,000 meant to pay the salary of a fifth-grade teacher. The previous year, the school board in Wellesley turned down $380,000 from parents seeking to save a popular Spanish language program.

“It’s never a good idea to fund something like teachers with soft money, since there’s no guarantee it will be there next year,’’ Kramer said. “It’s not a good precedent to set.’’

Many note that private fund-raising, even in the wealthiest and most generous towns, can provide only a small fraction of overall spending.

“Private fund-raising can never really bridge the gap,’’ Rourke said.

But parents often feel they have no choice but to try. Jon Carson, CEO of BiddingForGood, an online auction service in Cambridge, said groups are holding more-lucrative events in response to the growing need for private funds.

“How many bake sales can raise $150,000?’’ he asked. “If the tax base won’t absorb it, parents have to go this way.’’

Yet the more parents take upon themselves, many say, the more others will depend on them,

“You can see people thinking, ‘If they are good at raising money, why should we give it to them?’ ’’ said Glenn Koocher, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. By the same token, private donations can show the value of staving off budget cuts, he said.

Peter Schworm can be reached at schworm@globe.com.