Parents in areas across the country are setting up local privately funded public school foundations to buy services and materials they think their children's schools need. The trend is particularly evident in California.

• The number of such foundations in California grew from 22 in the mid-1970s to 537 by 1995.

• It has been estimated that the foundations there are now worth some $147 million.

• Funds are used for purposes ranging from buying modems, equipping gyms and landscaping to hiring French teachers.

• Those involved with the foundations report that, in addition to the equipment supplied and the funds donated, schools have also benefited from the enthusiasm and activism of the parents.

Analysts attribute the growth of these organizations in California to two events in the past several decades. One was a state Supreme Court decision that caused school funding to move from local schools to state control in Sacramento. Second, after Prop. 13 froze property taxes, school funding declined. The local foundations sprang up to reassert local control and supply needed funds.