Friday, March 04, 2005
Parents: suck it up and put up the bucks!
The Lake school board has yet another option to consider in their search for school funding.
Each parent pays a 'student fee' for various school activities, books, labs, sports that their child is involved in.
If a call is made to the State school board of education in Columbus, you find out that this fee can be increased significantly by the local school.
Why should these student fees be increased? Because getting a child to school, extra-cirruculars, sports, are fundamentally the parents' responsibility . They are a privelage. And public school parents should pay more than the rest of the community.
Private school parents do this year after year. They pay public school taxes for our children plus find a way to pay tuition for their own children.
Ask the school board to come up with a list of these extras. and the cost to fund them.
Raising these fees is a sacrificial, even painful idea for parents to consider. Some might even call it a tuition fee. But asking the entire community to pay more taxes should be for basic education. When a tax is passed by the voters, it is mandated upon every tax payer. If a community feels it is funding the basics, it will be more inclined to pass a tax levy.
This idea is not the total solution for a school district in financial trouble. But it is a part. Parents should not always look to Columbus or to their neighbors, but first to themselves and their family for help.
The Lake school board has yet another option to consider in their search for school funding.
Each parent pays a 'student fee' for various school activities, books, labs, sports that their child is involved in.
If a call is made to the State school board of education in Columbus, you find out that this fee can be increased significantly by the local school.
Why should these student fees be increased? Because getting a child to school, extra-cirruculars, sports, are fundamentally the parents' responsibility . They are a privelage. And public school parents should pay more than the rest of the community.
Private school parents do this year after year. They pay public school taxes for our children plus find a way to pay tuition for their own children.
Ask the school board to come up with a list of these extras. and the cost to fund them.
Raising these fees is a sacrificial, even painful idea for parents to consider. Some might even call it a tuition fee. But asking the entire community to pay more taxes should be for basic education. When a tax is passed by the voters, it is mandated upon every tax payer. If a community feels it is funding the basics, it will be more inclined to pass a tax levy.
This idea is not the total solution for a school district in financial trouble. But it is a part. Parents should not always look to Columbus or to their neighbors, but first to themselves and their family for help.
