The Boston Latin School -- the oldest public school in the nation -- launched a $60 million fundraising campaign that education experts believe is the "most ambitious" effort of its kind for a public school, the Washington Post reports.

The effort isn't the only multi-million-dollar fundraising goal by a public school, however. The Post reports that a public high school in Omaha, Neb., is planning to raise $32 million for a technology center, athletic facility and new classrooms.

Both campaigns -- among many cropping up across the country -- show the dedication of citizens to save public education from budget problems, as well as charitable donors' desire to give to education efforts.

Many of these efforts rely on graduates to help their former schools. In Massachusetts, for example, a cocktail party was hosted for Brookline High School's $10 million fundraising campaign. Attending the $10,000-a-person event were alumni such as Conan O'Brien, Mike Wallace and former governor Michael S. Dukakis, the Post reports.

The private money that is being put into public schools for updated classrooms and teacher training has alarmed some critics, who say this creates funding inequality. The Post reports that courts are now ordering states to make school funding more equal by shifting money from wealthy schools to poor ones.

Alumni, on the other hand, say they are allowed to support their alma maters, the newspaper reports.

Many private donors agree that public education isn't a lost cause. Those same donors, however, don't want their money to pay for teachers or basic support of the schools, according to Michael Weiss, chairman of the alumni association of Brooklyn Technical High School, which recently held its own fundraising dinner.

"We're not letting the public sector off the hook," Weiss told the newspaper.

Full text of the article is currently found at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/
feed/a52770-2000mar1.htm