Fundraising in Schools

When I was a kid, I remember having to do fundraisers for my elementary and middle schools.  I'm not sure what exactly that taught me, but now that I have kids of my own, the subject is really irritating to me.

I think in general education is a very important subject to Americans.  There is an ideology at work that I think most Americans would agree with.  Everyone should have access to education, and no publicly funded schools should receive more or less money based on their social status, race, or any other factor.  I think many people would even say that children of illegal immigrants should receive education even though opinions as far as other services for illegal immigrants are usually negative.

The problem I have is that you still end up with public schools that are much better off than others.  One reason for this is that schools are constantly asking kids to participate in fundraising activities.  The money these kids raise is not coming from a general pool of people that is available to everyone.  This money is coming from those kids families and friends.  This generates a distinct advantage to schools in affluent or upper middle class areas as their families and friends are likely to shell out more cash for that child's fundraising.  In effect, this process is creating a social structure amongst our public schools that ensures that rich kids will grow up better educated and poor kids will receive a poorer education.

I believe that either this practice should stop, or that we should require all fundraising to schools to be put into a pool for the district or state.  I believe this is the same practice used for property taxes.