Public School Donations Under Fire.

In school districts across the United States, legislators and school boards are placing restrictions on the amount of money individual schools can raise through donations and fund raisers. In Greenwich, Connecticut, public grade schools cannot accept more than $62,106 in donations, and in Willoughby, Ohio, parents can raise as much as they want, but they cannot earmark it for a specific school. The restrictions are a response to criticism of the practice. Critics of public school donations believe that fundraising adds to the inequity in public schools, arguing that parents in wealthier areas can raise more than parents in impoverished neighborhoods. In New York City in 1997, the...