Why have public school parents been forced to become full-time fundraisers, selling everything from cupcakes and candy to advertising space on the school fence?
And why are we paying hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out inept financial institutions and the boobs and scoundrels who ran and regulated them, while putting the squeeze on schools that might produce a smarter generation of future leaders?
I don't think any of the parents at Ivanhoe will hold their breath waiting for those answers. In the auditorium Wednesday night, one dad, Erik Grammer, held up a check as the first donation and said, yeah, times are tough for a lot of people. But he realized he was paying $1,000 a year for cable TV, which he just canceled.
I wrote a check because I believe in the school and my daughter loves it, and, as Friends of Ivanhoe pointed out, private schools in the area charge between $12,500 and $26,800.
I just wish we weren't catching up so fast.
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steve.lopez@latimes.com
