A group of nonprofit education groups in Silicon Valley are wading into one of education's hottest topics.
They say something is wrong with the way schools are funded in California.
Education advocates say classes like robotics are common on the west side of Silicon Valley. They're the kind of classes that help prepare the future tech workforce.
The Silicon Valley Education Foundation added on average, school districts on the west side receive roughly $24,000 in state funding per student and year.
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But things look a little different on the East Side, including the Alum Rock School District. The Education Foundation says districts like Alum Rock get roughly $11,000 in state funding per student and per year.
That's less than half of the west side's allotment.
Dr. Lisa Andrew believes that's because the state of California’s funding formula, which is based on property taxes is flawed.
“So how are the students in Alum Rock going to be able to compete to become the workforce of Silicon Valley?” she said. “Until every child in our county, in our state, receives the same allocation for their education, we can’t talk about being equitable in our state when it comes to education.”
Andrew says equality means east side students would also have the opportunity to enroll in robotics classes, and teachers wouldn’t have to get part-time jobs to make ends meet.
That’s why Andrew’s team is now partnering with several other powerful education nonprofits to form the "East Side Education Initiative."
The initiative aims to help fill in some of those funding gaps, by providing grants. But more importantly Andrew said the group hopes to force lawmakers to change the state funding formula.
The campaign is called “Zip Code, Code Red.”
Dr. Hilaria Bauer, Alum Rock School District superintendent also notes that if Silicon Valley is truly interested in creating a diverse workforce, they should be pushing for school funding equality as well.
NBC Bay Area reached out to the California Department of Education for comment on Thursday, but have yet to hear back.
