Fairness and Equality

What's interesting is that every time I attend a meeting at our kids' school I end up with a topic to write about on this blog. The teachers in this meeting were debating the charter bylaws wherein they are mandated to restrict their fund raising efforts to the pursuit of grants and these monies are to be shared with all students in the school equally. Sounds warm and fuzzy; doesn't it.
Well not so fast! What this means is that as there are two classes for each grade if one class receives special funding for a certain event they would not be able to attend that event unless the other class was able to go as well. The parents kept referring to this as "fairness". I heard a lot of "that wouldn't be fair". I don't believe people really think about fairness at all.
Equality is defined by Webster's Dictionary as "a state of being equal" or "an equation with equal properties".
Fairness on the other hand is defined as "being just, reasonable, unbiased or impartial".
Is it "fair" to deny one student or class because of inequality? Karl Marx once said "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need". Is this then the de facto working paradigm within our school system? Is it fair to take from those who are able to produce only to give to those who have the greatest need? What about the needs of those who worked so hard to produce? Where are they rewarded for their travails? The teacher is responsible for the instruction of his or her students. The teacher should be able to receive gifts of funds from any source regardless of the intent behind the gift and should have the freedom to use this gift according to their judgment for the betterment of their class. Now, to answer my own question stated earlier: It is fair to allow one class to receive a gift of money and then to use that money to go on a field trip even though the other fifth grade class will not be able to go as well. This is "fair" but it is not equal. Equality at the expense of others is not fair.