This is insane! Now future generations are now in more debt than the current generation.

Hasnt school classes and it's after hours sports programs always costed money?

This is a huge can of worms to open.

There is a certain amount as a parent I am willing to pay beyond what I already pay in taxes to support public education. The sports, musical, arts....etc. are important to growth in children. They should not be subject to dismissal because of lack of support.

Like healthcare, education is vital. It should not see its budgets cut.

However, in order to make sure we are getting the most from our school system we should expect to see some kind of gauged results such as testing, maybe not gov'ment testing as I find those tests to be lacking. You can't have teachers teaching that are bad at it...can you? (like any job performance review)

The other problem is the percentage of childrent that go to public schools that live in families that are already subsidised by goverment assistance. This is a double wammy to the system. (I am not being an elitist here, just pointing out the other problems with the system.)

There will never be a "good" answer concerning public schools other than parents just throwing in their chips and switching to private or home schooling in order to get their children the education they need.

There's tons more stuff to consider, debate and talk about. To big of a topic.

From what I have seen the more the federal government spends in the public school system, the worse the system gets. For most of the time I was in public school, there was no federal dept of education at the cabinet level. Since the last demonkrat disaster of a president(Carter) created it in 1979, US education has been in a "race to the bottom" as far as actual quality instruction and student learning goes. Interestingly, in 1939 the precursor office for this agency was part of the Federal Security Agency. The FSA, among other things, also hosted the War Research Service, a secret program to develop chemical and biological weapons from 1942 to 1944.

I have said it a million times, close the federal Department of Education/Indoctrination and put it all back in the states hands. Then, if the states do not do what they are supposed to do, then they have to answer to the people. I would refuse to pay those fees and I have refused and I shall see the outcome if they allow my child to graduate even though they feel I owe them money, that is what my taxes are for. I am sick and tired of paying for others incompetence. But seriously what can they do about it if you refuse to pay, I would think if one did refuse to pay to play, then I would be inclined to think that No Child Left Behind would actually prove to be of some benefit in this case.

Incredibly disturbing, but not surprising. Keeping people stupid means keeping people dependent.

This is the first I have heard about this article, so thank you OP for posting it.

As a public school teacher myself, I find this appalling at best and downright criminal at worst. While sports have always had some sort of fees attached to them, as well as instrumental music education (my forte), never in my life have I heard of students being required to actually pay for the courses in order to take them! I understand the need for parents to shell out money for certain types of instruments that are small enough to be economically feasible (trumpets, clarinets, flutes, drum sticks, trombones, as well as reeds, oils, etc. to maintain the instruments), and that the school would provide the bigger ones (tubas, drum kits, marching equipment, etc.), but to charge for an arts class, and then charge for a spanish class (both of which are required according to NCLB...no if's and's or but's), is just lunacy!

The fact that the teachers didn't fight this, nor did the union fight this (from what I can tell), is just crazy! Yeah, the public doesn't want tax increases, and nobody really does, but how much money were they going to save compared to the amount that they are shelling out now?! I bet they would have saved more money with a 5% tax increase per thousand dollars than shelling out 5,000 a year for their kids to get a well-rounded education!

My question is: what percentage of the population in this town is over the age of 55? How many of that age bracket voted the budget down? If history holds true, it was probably closer to 60-70% of that age bracket. This has happened several times in the district that I went to school in, as well as the district I currently work in. Somehow, the powers that be made due, but the fact that this is now spreading to Kansas is nuts. The schools know that this is illegal, they are being forced to do more with less, and the public doesn't give a damn. Is this the school's way of giving a wake up call to the people that reside within the district? I have no idea.

Articles like this make me hate being a teacher more and more....not because of the kids I work with, but the communities, administration, and the like that don't support the efforts to give their children a proper education. I do the work because I love to do it. I love the kids, and I love seeing their faces light up every time they understand and really grasp a new concept. How am I supposed to do my job with everything else coming down on me?

And public schools wonder why there is such a shortage of teachers in this country....




Peace be with you.

-truthseeker

Schools need to teach the value of knowledge. Instead of dumping it on them with no real explaination of why they need it or what can be done with it.

Charging for education should be illegal.