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As schools cut back, parents open wallets

Boston Globe 6/7/10: As schools cut back, parents open wallets . Time was, parents would hold bake sales or sell refreshments at school football games to raise money for local schools. But with public schools under financial duress, private fund-raising groups are launching far more ambitious campaigns. 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.

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