1. How will my donation be spent and how do I know that it will not go into a “general fund” and diverted to other district expenses?

The CFSD Foundation is specific in its mission to fund teaching positions and the 30/60 Challenge helps the Foundation meet that mission.  The Foundation is a 501©(3) organization set up to support the district and its commitment to excellence through meeting the educational needs of students at every levels of the education process. The Foundation’s gift of funds is a separate line item in  the district’s budget and thus will not be pooled into its “general fund.”  This campaign is saving teaching positions.

 

1. How is this effort going to preserve the quality of education?

CFSD is the “platinum standard” in public education—the district is well respected from the local level, to the state level and has become recognized as a standard of excellence on the national level.  It is our goal to maintain that standard and offer students the opportunity to excel and use what they learn at CFSD when they move on to higher education.  Many elite colleges specifically recruit students from CFSD because of its reputation for high quality learning and excelling performance.

 

1. Does this fundraising campaign let our State Legislators off the hook from having to adequately fund public education in district #16?

This is not about the State Legislature; it is about what those in the district can do to empower the CFSD to proceed with its goal of providing excellence in our classrooms.  We can’t rely on the State Legislators doing the right thing in providing adequate funding for its public school system.

 

1. These are hard economic times.  How can you expect each family in the district to give $500 to the campaign?

Yes, we agree and share you concern; however, if each family cannot give $500, we ask that you reach out to others in your community to help contribute to the campaign.   We believe there are many people who want to see public education flourish—your neighbors, your business colleagues, your relatives & beyond—the community shares in its civic pride of CFSD.  This is an opportunity to engage others in the community and ask for a commitment to become part of the solution.  We will see brighter days ahead and even the smallest contributor can support one of the best school districts in the nation!  It’s empowering to bring the community into this effort to provide continuity of excellence in our school district.

 

1. I am particularly interested in making sure certain specialized instruction at my child’s school will be maintained—how can I direct my contribution to that program?

CFSD prides itself in delivering similar programs in each of its schools so each maintains  “Excelling” status.  The district wants specialized instruction for each of its schools and each student to get what it needs to reach its highest potential.  This 30/60 Challenge is raising money to reinstate teaching positions in order to maintain a lower class size.   Also, the funds will maintain teaching positions to provide specialized instruction as well as courses that other public schools  just don’t offer.  With the funding in-place, we can be assured the current program level can continue at all CFSD schools!

 

1. Seems like property taxes rates  are so high in the foothills area that make up the district, why isn’t that enough to cover the cost of the public schools?

The property tax rate is uniform from one part of the metropolitan area to the next; district #16’s property tax rate is not higher than elsewhere.  What is higher is the property values.  Many of us consciously decided to live inside CFSD boundaries to give our children the best-possible education and with that, the desirability of the district’s schools along with the foothills being an attractive place to live, make our property values higher than other parts of the metro area of Tucson.  Because Arizona is equal education funding state,  each CFSD student enrolled gets the same dollar amount from the State that other school districts receive for their students

 

 

1.  Why do we need to do all of this fund-raising in 60 days?

The Arizona Legislature will not have its State budget completed until sometime mid-summer.  CFSD needs to put a plan in place for the 2009-2010 school year and by ensuring the funding  is in the budget for next year’s operation, we can retain the teaching positions and ensure programs aren’t cut from our schools.  It is critical to the Foundation to help the district meet its funding goal and we need your help right now.  We have details available on the campaign website:  www.3060challenge.com  and we encourage everyone to help spread the word within their sphere of influence to engage the community into this effort.  We have all the details accessible on Facebook, the social network, so that supporters can become “Friends” of the campaign, keep in contact on the campaign’s effort and communicate with a wide-spectrum of people.  The web site will connect donors to the CFSD Foundation website, www.cfsdfoundation.org , and its secure “Pay Pal” to make on-line donations.  If donors prefer to make a donation via check, those can be mailed to CFSD Foundation, PO Box 65150, Tucson, AZ  85728. 

 

1. So, I have already contributed to the district for my children’s extra curricular activities through the tax credit contribution and to my school’s FFO’s, does that count toward this Foundation fund-raising campaign?

Those are separate contributions from the Foundation’s efforts and we think it is important for everyone to take advantage of the tax credit contributions toward extra curricular activities, plus support the schools’ FFO efforts to fund individual school requests.  However, the 30/60 Challenge  specifically is raising money to maintain excellence in our school district by funding teaching positions that will otherwise be cut due to budget shortfalls attributable to State cuts this year. 

 

1. What happens if we don’t meet the funding goal?

Our children are counting on us to make every effort to meet the goal and keep excellence in CFSD schools.  It’s not in our nature to fail and we know the community is committed to seeing public education succeed.  We can’t do it without your help and others in the district.  Donate today!