|
|
The Manhattan Beach Education Foundation |
|
|
|
If your child gets a good education,
|
|
From the first years of school
through graduation day, MBEF is on campus helping students learn. We
do more than pay for enriching programs like music, or ensure we
have librarians, or PE or computer lab teachers. MBEF is also in the
classroom. We pay for instructional assistants in every 4th and 5th
grade class, elective courses at the middle school and a guidance
counselor there, too, who helps kids navigate those tough years so
they get the most out of class. In high school -- when it’s academic crunch time -- MBEF is also there. As our children grow, and they actually want to study something off the beaten path of reading, math, science and history, they need a high school with an eclectic mix of classes. Psychology. Broadcast Journalism. Analysis of Literature. Music Theory. Drafting. These are just a few of the elective classes offered at Costa. The problem is limited state funding only goes so far. It’s expensive to offer these and the many other electives our students love. MBEF helps by providing $200,000 toward the costs of classes that may not be required—but are certainly essential. Then there’s AVID, a national program to help high school students in the academic middle prepare for college. Like other electives, state funding can’t begin to cover the costs of a program like AVID, but MBEF can, and does. We provided the funding to help bring the program to Mira Costa, and this year, will support it to the tune of nearly $92,000. Academically, Manhattan Beach Unified School District ranks fifth in the state among other unified districts. Over time, the district has become one of the finest in the state, if not the nation, with a level of academics that rivals private schools. The other top unified school districts, and even nearby Palos Verdes, have created education foundations and passed a parcel tax to supplement state funding. Their parcel tax dollars go directly to their school district unlike all property taxes which go to Sacramento and are redistributed to each school district in the state. Without a parcel tax in Manhattan Beach, your support of MBEF is even more critical. All the MBEF programs, at every level, that enrich your child’s educational experience would be impossible without you. Let’s all step up, however we can, and keep it up. For a little “school financing 101,” visit http://www.edsource.org/pdf/QA_financefinal.pdf. To see our latest API scores, go to http://www.mbusd.org/edsvc/api/index.htm. |
•
|
