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Too often, parents take for granted that their children鈥檚 school experience is fundamentally the same as what鈥檚 happening in all the district鈥檚 schools. It turns out that is often far from reality. And some differences come through vastly different Parent-Teacher Association budgets.

That doesn鈥檛 have to be the case. As researchers and parent leaders, we watched a rare shift emerge over the past several years in Evanston, Illinois. PTA funds, typically raised locally within individual school communities, are now raised collectively across all schools in the district and reallocated equitably.

The district-wide PTA Council pools and redistributes all fundraising across schools in the district through a new initiative called the One Fund. Every school receives an equality distribution of a standard amount per student, as well as an equity distribution based on student need. This initiative emerged from and is supported by the 鈥� a multiracial group of parents, caregivers, and community members committed to advocating for resource sharing and equity-centered community work. 

Before the One Fund, there were significant differences in the fundraising capacity of PTAs across the 13 schools in Evanston鈥檚 K-8 district鈥搘ith a gap of more than $40,000 between schools, totaling hundreds of dollars per pupil. One school might modernize track and playground facilities with just one year鈥檚 fundraising, while another struggles to fund basic school supplies. Two early PEP leaders how these fundraising discrepancies materialized and how parent and caregiver organizers worked hard to raise awareness of the vast differences across schools, often along familiar economic and racial lines. That made some people uncomfortable. 

Similar inequities in funding PTAs and other parent groups show up across the country, as  our research from and shows, as well as in New York City. Indeed, there has been with and critical questions that challenge these common regressive spending patterns.

Across several years, PEP leaders in Evanston held town halls, meticulously addressed questions and concerns, and made a great effort to organize community support 鈥� including from some of the most affluent parents in the district. Parents and caregivers developed a shared, common understanding of the problem: PTA inequities were inconsistent with their values and with the district鈥檚 commitments to imbuing equity across educational experiences and opportunities for students. 

With a clear sense that there was a problem, the community muddled toward a solution. This didn鈥檛 come easy 鈥� there were uncertainties and there remain pockets of resistance. However, PEP emerged as a solution by accommodating a range of how people thought about solving the problem of PTA inequities. 

For some, the One Fund represented 鈥渁 charity thing鈥� involving those with more giving to those with less. For many, the One Fund seemed like a no-brainer: The benefits would eventually come around to support all children, since every student in the K-8 district attends the same high school. 

Still others understood the One Fund as a form of mutuality and solidarity,helping to reframe PTA support from focused on 鈥渕y school鈥� to 鈥渨e are one district鈥�we need to start working as one school, as opposed to mine, my school, my kids.鈥� This reframing around solidarity reflects ways that the One Fund and the PTA Equity Project have helped to deepen community across the district.

In Evanston, the work continues. There is a more even distribution of PTA dollars across schools. And despite smaller annual budgets, PTAs are still able to support valuable enrichments and programming as they embrace the new orientation around the entire district community鈥檚 needs. Currently, the One Fund is set up on a three-year cycle for PTAs to recommit to the equity initiative, which enables continued engagement and commitment to shared values around equity in and across schools.

What happened in Evanston should encourage parent and community leaders elsewhere that it鈥檚 possible to do something, even when that something might at first feel hard and a bit amorphous. In fact, two of us have recently been working with similar efforts in districts across the country to understand each community鈥檚 needs and hopes.

Beyond differences in dollars, it鈥檚 important to think about other ways that racial and economic inequities can show up 鈥� or be challenged 鈥� in PTA spaces. Prior to the One Fund, there were sustained initiatives in Evanston aimed at laying a foundational understanding and establishing a shared language around equity. This can help build toward solidarity, which is core to deeper shifts toward more equitable educational opportunities.

The model used in Evanston will not neatly import to all places. A few other models exist, including:

• In , each public school can raise up to $5,000 for its own campus. Past that amount, the rest of the funds go into a centralized pot that is distributed across the district鈥檚 schools.
• In some places, there are informal 鈥渟ister school鈥� PTAs, which pair differently resourced schools to share dollars, information and ideas.
• In , Black parents hosted parent affinity groups as an alternative to the traditional fundraising-focused PTA. That ultimately launched a district-wide grassroots movement of parents organizing for equitable educational opportunities.

In reflecting on Evanston鈥檚 One Fund model, we find it remarkable and unremarkable at the same time. Dedicated parent and caregiver organizers have donated their time, talent, and treasure to do something rare 鈥� shift dollar resources in a much more equitable way. And it鈥檚 just how things are done now 鈥� it鈥檚 not a big deal that this is the way PTAs raise funds in the district. The three of us hope that other communities can reflect, engage and join us in our commitment to exploring possibilities of more equitable educational experiences.

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