Hello Dan,

This is a shout from Ivanhoe Elementary School – one of the best in the city, as you know.  I am writing to ask you to help school out in a time of great need. Basically, the school is going to lose critical personnel and infrastructure unless they are able to raise 335K by May 11.

The money raised augments the severely diminished funds they receive from LAUSD.  Those state budget cuts hit schools very hard. They have 150K on-hand so far and about 50K in uncollected but pledged money. Most of the money comes from the families, many of which arestruggling profoundly- not that we are not all up against it with this economy and this market. But here’s the thing: I know you have sold in the Ivanhoe school district, are selling there now, or plan to sell there in the future, you know that sense of confidence when you get to say to a young mother and father, or soon to be mother and father, that the house is in Ivanhoe.  If they were considering private school, and they buy in Ivanhoe, they save themselves tens of thousands of dollars.  Now some might argue that there is an Ivanhoe premium tacked onto houses in the district, and I would agree to an extent. However, close scrutiny of the numbers fairly shows that the premium is well worth the long term savings.

Please tel your clients if they have, are, or will buy or sell in Ivanhoe, they are a direct beneficiary of the fantastic work of the staff there, as well as the dedicated efforts of the community.  The staff, the parents, and the children keep the school consistently in the highest echelons of performance.  Giving to Ivanhoe is in everyone’s best financial interest because it will help the school continue to be as excellent as it is.  It makes the area that much more special and it makes the sale that much easier.

Lastly, it may help (though you may find it infuriating) to understand the logic of public school funding in this modern world:  the better the school does, the less money it gets.  Yes.  That’s what I just wrote, the better the school does, the less money it gets.  Does that seem like a structural incentive to be mediocre?  I believe so.  But, getting mad at the bureaucracy of LAUSD and the perverse incentive structure of our national education system, which dictates this weird inversion of common sense, is like getting mad at the rain and running out and hollering at it:  you get wet, it doesn’t stop raining, and you might get sick from carrying on like a crazy person
in the downpour.  If it outrages you, I welcome and encourage you to channel that energy and do something about it, but, in the meantime, please help the school stay great. Full disclosure:  I have two children at Ivanhoe, so I have a triple interest: my kids and my job.  Our family has given significantly and will continue to do so.
Please dig as deep as you can.  The address and website are below. Give in your own name or in the name of KW.  Alternatively, they have a banner program so you can purchase ad-space on the fence of the school on Rowena if you’d like.  Or, the kids are doing a Fitness Fest by which they raise money with pledges – you can pledge through a child you know at the school or you can pledge through one of my kids (they would be verygrateful!). All donations are tax deductible because the parents organization,Friends of Ivanhoe (“FOI”), is a 501c3.  Know that whatever you do, even if it’sjust hundred bucks, will be meaningful, it will be a tax write-off, and it will be good business.
Dan (Mr. Ivanhoe) Thanks so much for reading and contributing to the school and for passing this on to your Buyers, Sellers and all the people that follow you blog! You are a great Realtor and a true friend of Ivanhoe!

Cheers,

Joe Mellis

By Mail:

Friends of Ivanhoe
P.O. Box 39985 Griffith Park Station
Los Angeles, CA 90039

Website to learn more:  http://www.friendsofivanhoe.org/CPIE_B7LD.html

Glad to help and as always contact me fo all your Real Estate needs at dansyrealtor@gmail.com or call 323-839-3936

Best,

Dan Ortega