Episode 10: What Being a PTO President Taught Me About School Funding

In this eye-opening episode, I share what my time as a PTO President has truly revealed about how school funding works—and where it falls short. What started as a desire to get more involved in my child’s school quickly turned into a deep dive into budgets, fundraising, and the reality behind the resources our teachers and students depend on every day.

I’ll talk about the surprising gaps between what schools receive and what they actually need, how heavily many schools rely on PTO support, and the real impact that fundraising has on classrooms, staff, and student experiences. From teacher appreciation efforts to funding essential programs and campus improvements, you’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to keep a school running.

If you’ve ever wondered where your tax dollars go, why schools are constantly fundraising, or how you can make a meaningful impact—this episode pulls back the curtain in a very real and personal way.

Transcript

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Hello and welcome to the Brutiful Chaos with Kiki podcast. Hello and welcome to podcast episode number 10. What being a PTO president taught me about school funding. Have you ever wondered how public schools are really funded and why, despite all the taxes we pay, so many schools still seem to struggle to get by? Because I have, and honestly, I didn't fully understand it until this past year, when I stepped into the role of PTO president at my child's elementary school. What I've learned has completely opened my eyes and in some ways completely broken my heart. Before this, I assumed schools were fully funded, well enough to cover the basics, teachers, supplies, programs, enrichment, things that are essential to a child's education. But the truth is there just isn't enough funding for public schools to truly thrive. So let's start with something that might surprise you. Florida has some of the lowest teacher salaries in the country. The average sits around $65,000 a year. And when you think about it, these are people shaping our children's futures. They are educators, mentors, caregivers, counselors, and they are not being compensated in a way that reflects that. So where does the money actually come from? According to the Florida Department of Education website, Florida public schools are funded through a combination of state, local, and federal resources, primarily through Florida Education Finance Program, FEFP, which adjusts funding based on students' enrollment. Full-time equivalent is FTE and local property-based taxes. In 2023-24, the funding was approximately 54.64% local property taxes, 29.97% state sales taxes, and 15.39% federal taxes. So while that sounds like a lot, it really isn't for the amount of staff and teachers and schools that we have in the state of Florida. I recently learned that because our town's land is mostly owned by the military, we get a marginal percentage increase, which is nowhere near what the surrounding counties receive. So basically, what that means is that we don't have enough property to charge property taxes on because the military owns most of the land in our town. The county officials feel that $71 a student is adequate to make up for the millions of dollars that our surrounding counties receive. For example, our neighboring county isn't owned by the military and is considered a very wealthy area. They're allotted around $18 million for a fraction of the students. It's very interesting how the tables are scaled here in Florida. So let's talk about the main funding for schools, which is FEFP, which stands for the Florida Education Finance Program that adjusts funding based on enrollment. The state allocates funding to each county, and it's based on per student amount, around $8,500 per student. That money goes into a countywide pool and is then distributed out to individual schools based on things like enrollment, grade level, specific needs, age of the school, etc. On paper, it sounds reasonable, but in reality, that money has to stretch incredibly far. It covers teachers' salaries, staffing, supplies, building maintenance, utilities, and any other improvements that the school needs. Everything comes out of that same pot of money, which is managed by the school level by the school principal. There's also a half percent sales tax that is supposed to support schools, but in our experience, we haven't really seen that funding and a meaningful impact in years. And the way that works is that the half a percent sales tax goes into a pot, and then the local school principal will request whatever their improvements are. Wait, so what happens when the money runs out? Cuts, hard decisions. At our school, for example, our art teacher is gonna have to go part-time. Elementary schools are typically allocated funding for one special elective, like music or art. We are incredibly fortunate to have a tenured music teacher, which technically fills that requirement. But then what about art? For years, our principal has found a way. We have a daycare program that is attached to our school, and so those funds were used to help pay for the art teacher. Well, this upcoming year there just wasn't enough. So now our art teacher is being reduced to part-time. So thankfully we get to keep her, but unfortunately, there's just not enough funding to keep her full-time. So some schools try to split those resources, offering two part-time electives so that kids can still experience both, but it's still not the same. You're not getting the same amount of time and education that you normally would. And so those are just some of the kind of decisions that schools are being forced to make every single day. And then there's another layer to this, the personalized education program or the PEP scholarship. In theory, it was a great idea. Families who choose to homeschool can receive funding to support their child's education. But here's the issue that no one really talks about. Some families receive those funds and then later decide to return to the public school. And when that happens, the public school doesn't get reimbursed for that student. So now the schools are expected to educate more students with less funding. So that makes for an incredible challenge. But there is something that you can do about it, however. You are able to contact your representatives. If you live in Northwest Florida, you can contact Senator Don Gates or the local representative Pat Maney. There are also petitions that are circulating to change the Pep Scholarship bill. Please email me if you would like more information on this. My email is brutiful chaos with Kiki at gmail.com. So this funding system quite honestly feels unsustainable. And this is where the PTOs come in. I cannot even begin to tell you how much schools rely on their PTO and how much of an impact they truly make. I am so grateful for our wonderful PTO volunteers that we have. It is just incredible the amount of things that they do. At our school, we have about 12 volunteers, parents, who dedicate countless hours, and I mean countless. It really is like a full-time job, but it is completely unpaid, and all of these girls do it for completely free. And I am truly grateful for them. As a PTO, we fundraise all year long. We organize events, we support our teachers, we step in wherever there's gaps because there's always gaps. We help fund things that many people assume were already covered, like artwork, technology upgrades, and even school improvements. We've helped bring in things like murals, outdoor spaces, and smart boards. We also focus heavily on teacher appreciation because if the system isn't going to fully support them, we want them to at least feel valued. We do luncheons, coffee carts, small gifts is the least that we can do for everything that they give. And we truly appreciate our teachers. But even with all of that, it's still not enough. Maintaining a school campus is expensive, and I did not even realize how expensive it is. Landscaping alone is a challenge. At our school, much of the exterior is dirt with only small patches of grass. The county pays someone to cut the grass, aka weeds, once a month. That's it. If you live in Florida, you know that the warm months need at least weekly cuts. So let's talk about the outside of our school. We were incredibly fortunate that during COVID, when spending was paused and funds weren't able to be redirected, we were able to get a new playground installed in 2021. But not every school had that opportunity. Some schools in our local area still have minimal playgrounds. I'm talking just a set of monkey bars and a dirt field. And that's hard to see because every child deserves a safe, engaging, and inspiring place to learn and play. This has become my passion project. What started as a just getting involved has turned into something much bigger for me. Because now I know. Now I see how much schools are struggling behind the scenes and how much they rely on community support just to function. So when you support me, my podcast, my products, you are supporting something so much bigger. My passion projects are to make schools beautiful. So what does that mean? Well, I'll explain it to you. So one thing I never really understood before stepping into the role of PTO president is just how much it actually costs to make schools beautiful. Not just functional, but a place where kids feel proud and excited to be in. Let me give you a real example. For the last six years, in the car rider line, I've stared at this roundabout area, and honestly, it's not great. It's mostly red dirt, a few struggling patches of grass, and during recess, it turns into a dirt throwing zone. It's messy, it's uninviting, and it doesn't reflect the kind of environment I want for my kids. So when I became PTO president, I knew that was the first project I wanted to work on. Now in my mind, I had big ideas. I'm picturing artificial turf, maybe a soft rubber surface, something clean, safe, maybe a STEM playground, something visually appealing. But then reality hit. For about 800 square feet, artificial turf or rubber surfacing can cost anywhere from five to ten thousand dollars or even twenty thousand dollars. And our budget for this project, sixteen hundred dollars. So we had to pivot. What we can do is build a sand volleyball court. That budget actually covers the sand, PVC pipe, glue, a net, and landscape fabric. It's not the dream I had originally had, and I would love something much better, but it's something, and that's the reality of working in a PTO. You learn very quickly how to stretch every single dollar as far as it can possibly go. And even beyond that one project, the costs just keep climbing. I would love to someday add artificial turf around the area, but again, we're talking about thousands of dollars that we simply just don't have. Another dream project I want to do is finishing the playground with rubber surfacing on the other side because right now it's just dirt because the funding ran out after COVID, and to complete it, it would cost anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 just to put 80 by 80 feet of rubber. Yeah, let that sink in. Even playground equipment alone starts at $50,000, and that's before installation and safety requirements. Everything has to meet strict codes to keep our kids safe, which is absolutely necessary, but it also makes everything significantly more expensive. All of this has really opened my eyes. Schools don't lack vision, they lack funding. So if you've ever wondered where PTO money goes or why fundraising matters so much, this is it. This is how we turn dirt into something meaningful. This is how we create spaces where kids can play, feel safe, and just enjoy being kids. And if you feel moved to help, whether that's through donations, sponsorships, or even just sharing resources and knowledge on grants or fundraising ideas, I would truly love to hear from you. You can reach me at brutal chaos with Kiki at gmail.com because I still believe these big dreams are possible. We just need a little more support to get there. The goal is to start here at my local elementary school to improve our playground, our play area, and create better outdoor spaces, to give our kids the environment that reflects how much they matter. And if I am lucky enough, if this grows, then and I am able to do this passion project, I want to help other schools too. Because this isn't just one school story, it's happening everywhere. So it's time to start thinking about it. So thanks for being here and caring about something that truly matters to me. If you want more information about how you can help, please email me. Or if that's not in the budget right now, there are many other ways that you can help as well. You can like and subscribe to my podcast, follow me on social media, or just simply share with your friends. I truly appreciate you being here today, and I cannot wait to talk to you next time when we talk about public college funding. See you then.