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Every wonder why Berkeley High – with all the graduates it sends to top notch universities, with its incredible roster of illustrious alumni – doesn’t have an endowment to rival that of a small liberal arts college? 

It sure isn’t because they don’t need one.  

The budget cuts have come in one disheartening wave after another in recent years, as the California legislators have failed to increase education funding to anywhere near the levels of other states. 

Whereas New York State funds its school at the rate of $10,000 per student per year, California antes up less that $7,000 per student per year, according to Berkeley School Board President Terry Doran. 

Just this spring the Berkeley Board of Education voted to cut a quarter of a million dollars out of Berkeley High’s budget, forcing the school to do without its on-campus suspension manager and the equivalent of 3.6 teachers. 

Berkeley High’s lack of funds has become something of a local legend, with parents pointing in disgust at the fact that the school can only afford one guidance counselor for each 500 students, or at the fact that in some classes the student/teacher ration tops 35-to-1. 

It’s not that Berkeley taxpayers haven’t been generous in their efforts to make up for the lack of state funding. Two big bond measures have passed with overwhelming support in the last decade alone, providing the dollars for the remodeling of the “G” and “H” classroom buildings, and the $30 million construction project underway today at the high school (adding a new library and media center, administrative offices, a student union, a cafeteria, and other much-needed facilities.) 

The Berkeley Public Schools Educational Excellence Project (BSEP) parcel tax, which provides millions each year to reduce class sizes by paying for more teachers, and to fund other enrichment programs at various school sites, has been approved by voters repeatedly since 1987. 

And Berkeley High parents, current and past, are doing their part to raise money for athletic teams, field trips, arts programs and more, through bake sales, car washes, etc.  

Those involved in more formal and significant fundraising efforts for Berkeley High, however, say its an uphill battle at best. No matter how many doctors, lawyers and CEOs there are among Berkeley High alumni – and there are many – either the leadership has been lacking to get a full-fledged fundraising campaign off the ground, or those who would lead have grown weary of fighting a losing battle. 

Unlike Schools like San Francisco’s Lowell High School or Santa Barbara High school, the Berkeley schools Alumni Association (which includes graduates from any Berkeley school, although it’s made up mostly of Berkeley High graduates) is not a particularly well-organized concern to begin with, alumni say.  

Of the 600 or so members in the group today, around two-thirds of them graduated prior to 1960, said Bill Bailey, former president of the Alumni Association and Berkeley High class of 1945. Of these, the vast majority no longer live in Berkeley – Bailey now lives in Orinda. The quarterly newsletter hasn’t been published for the last 10 months.  

For the “ol’ timers,” there is a perception that Berkeley High today is not the school they remember, Bailey said. Part of this might stem from policies that have become more “lenient” since the ’60s and ’70s, he speculated. But more than that, Bailey said, there is a negative image of public schools in general these days that makes people hesitant to donate money.  

For this, Bailey places much of the blame on a sensational media. 

“Newspapers don’t help the school situation because all they write about is the bad things,” Bailey said, recalling how much coverage a shooting at the alternative high school received, compared to the rare mention of Berkeley High’s world-renowned jazz ensemble in local papers. 

When people try to raise money for Berkeley High, they first have to overcome negative stereotypes of people may have of the school, Bailey said – which makes for a lot of work. 

“We have to get the word out on a personal basis instead of just letters,” Bailey said. 

Negative media coverage aside, some argue that Berkeley High administrators themselves haven’t made it easy to sell the school to would-be contributors over the years. 

Since it was formed by concerned parents in 1990, the Berkeley High School Development Group has lead the way in fundraising efforts for the school. In the 1999-2000 school year the group raised $221,754 to support the Berkeley High health center, library, arts programs and athletic programs. 

But the development group has stopped short of attempting to spearhead a larger fundraising campaign, said the group’s president Terry Bloomsburgh, in part because there is a perception that Berkeley High can’t take good care of the things it already has.  

Lack of funding from the school district has prevented the school from receiving adequate maintenance in recent years, whether it be keeping bathrooms clean or keeping electrical equipment functioning, Bloomsburgh said. Four years ago, the development group volunteers had to spend a Saturday at the school just creating an inventory of existing electronic equipment, because no such inventory existed, Bloomsburgh added. 

“There isn’t a sense, like you have at a university, that physical things count for anything. We’ve replaced VCR’s like hot cakes at times,” Bloomsburgh said, concluding, “People are not going to come forth with significant money unless you’re going to take care of the property.” 

Or as Bailey put it, there are people who “Don’t want to give money directly to the high school because it goes down the rat hole.” 

Still, Bailey and others said Berkeley High alumni, by and large, feel strongly connected to their alma mater and are more than willing to help with fundraising efforts, if someone would just take the time to show them the way. 

For the last four years Bailey and other prominent alumni have helped organize a “celebrity waiter luncheon”, where Berkeley High Alumni who went on to be notable athletes in the NFL, NBA, or Major League Baseball were invited to “wait” on local business people who paid $500 per table. The profits – more than $10,000 at the luncheon this March – going into a discretionary fund presided over by Berkeley High’s athletic director. 

“(The athletes) have been more than willing to participate,” said alumni Wayne Tarr, Berkeley High class of 1957. “But that’s not enough money.” 

Asked whether an effort could be launched to get alumni to contribute to an endowment for Berkeley High, Bailey expressed what seems to be a common sentiment: “I think that would be a great idea, but I don’t have the time to do it.” 

Berkeley High Principal Frank Lynch said an endowment “would make a huge difference” for the school. But, he added, the school doesn’t currently have the “luxury” of paying someone to organize an endowment fundraising campaign. 

“You’ve got to go out and court people,” Lynch said. 

For more information about Berkeley High fundraising contact the Berkeley High School Development Group at 649-1544 or e-mail bhsdgroup@aol.com.