Sick of Broke Schools: Parents Go Gangster and Shake Down Businesses For Cash

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8wZFB20Aq0
It looks like America's parents have had it with all the endless fundraising they have to do to compensate for years of cuts to public education budgets. In fact, some of them are so fed up with begging for donations that they're turning to gangster tactics and rapping about it.

The track, "Shake You Down" is a comedic look at the fundraising frustrations of a bunch of PTA moms. They turn their kids loose on a sushi restaurant until the place agrees to cough up some cash for the local school.

The video's produced by parents at Aldama Elementary in Los Angeles and Parkmead Elementary in the San Francisco Bay Area. They say schools are "radically, unacceptably underfunded," to the point that their children's education is threatened. If they don't get some financial help, one mom raps, businesses are going to be "looking down the barrel of my juice box." And then the moms will bring every kid they know—including babies—and turn 'em loose.

If you've been in these mom's shoes, the video will make you laugh—or maybe cry over how desperate we've all become regarding school funding. But, Crystal Brown, president of Educate Our State, a parent-led, statewide campaign working to unite the voices of Californians in support of high-quality K-12 public educations, hopes the video spurs parents to vote on Election Day for Propositions 30 and 38, two ballot initiatives that will fund public education in the state.

"The video is a great way to help us spread the word about the importance of the two education initiatives on the November ballot," says Brown. "If Propositions 30 and 38 fail, what happens in this video might become reality." For the sake of the sushi restaurant employees, the frustrated moms, and the kids who suffer the consequences of budget cuts, let's all hope those propositions pass.