Step into Madison Park's McGilvra Elementary School and you can't help but notice the evidence of an incredible parent-fundraising operation.
Sure, there are the traditional contributions: library books, art supplies, hallway decorations. But parents here also help fund a math teacher, a reading specialist, an art instructor, a computer trainer and a full-time counselor.
The total price tag last year: $393,950.
McGilvra is not unique in the Seattle public-school district.
Responding to state budget cuts and other factors, Seattle parent-teacher associations (PTAs) are funneling several million dollars into the city's schools each year, some of it supporting a couple dozen employee salaries, according to budget documents provided by the district.
