As school districts face budget difficulties, more and more of them rely on student and parent fund-raising. Poorer neighborhoods, of course, are at a huge disadvantage.

In a single school district, the disparity in per student fund-raising can be huge. One school may raise $50 per student in a fund-raising campaign; another may raise $1,000.

At the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, the superintendent is proposing that the district pool 15 percent of school donations into an "equity fund" that would distribute money among all of the district's 16 schools. More money would go to schools that have greater needs, based on a student-weighted formula. The school board has been working on this for many months and hopes to have a decision by May.

More California school districts should follow suit.

It's one thing to have the PTA hold fund-raising events such as carnivals, fairs and silent auctions to raise money for special things, such as a trip for the band to the Rose Bowl. These fund-raising events help build community and supplement the basic educational program. But too often, funds are being raised for basic school functions that should be provided at all schools on an equitable basis - textbooks and other curriculum materials, aides, supplies, computers, librarians and more.

Santa Monica-Malibu Superintendent John Deasy hopes the idea of a student-weighted formula will catch on, not only as a way to distribute fund-raising dollars but also as a model for bringing about statewide change in the way education dollars are distributed to schools.

Funding basic public education with private donations is less than ideal. But if it's inevitably going to happen in these difficult budget times, let's find creative solutions that avoid widening the gap in per-pupil spending for basic education across schools. The "equity fund" idea is a small, positive step in that direction. We're going to need more creative thinking like this to resolve equity issues in California schools.