One of the least enjoyable things about living in these surreal times has to be the contradictions. On the one hand, everywhere I turn I see exemplars of the newest paradigm—the Free. What isn’t given away these days? Half the world’s best, worst, and pornographic ideas are shared gratis on the Internet, 24 hours a day, for my surfing pleasure; music can be stolen with joyful impunity; movies can be downloaded at no more cost than my time, etc.
Of course, I’m kidding—not very much is actually free, a fact that a quick (free) glance into my wallet will surely attest. But I was reminded of the concept of free this morning as I read a post on the New York Times’s Motherlode blog about how much more parents are being asked to contribute to their child’s public school education:
It is a trend already being seen across the country, as parents are being asked to bridge the gap between what students need and what taxpayers will pay for. In some places, that includes some very big ticket items. Just last month, parents in Cupertino, Calif., announced that they were more than halfway to their $3 million goal, which would offset more than $7 million in state cuts and save the jobs of 107 teachers. Each family with children in the school district was asked to give $375.
JP hasn’t yet entered the public school system, so all of his education to date has been paid for, but I had always kinda assumed that his upcoming free public education (funded by my taxes, of course) wouldn’t actually cost me anything. Apparently, I was naive.
For those Dadwagoners out there with older children, have you noticed the trend mentioned above? Have donations and fundraisers at your kid’s public school become burdensome, or are they still merely bothersome?
Both burdensome AND bothersome. And I’ve been part of them.
You’ve been to the DMV? That’s what public education is like. Yes, it works, but no- it’s certainly not pretty. Some fundraising has crossed the line recently, charging fees for activities like Advanced Placement testing that some say should be tax-covered.
These activities will be on the increase as expected tax revenues will be falling as has the economy.
Private school is always an option- around here in San Diego, that’ll cost you around $20k per year.
Hell, my 3 year olds Montesorri has a $500 year fundraising commitment on top of the high tuition. Sounds like the public school he’s starting next year has similar expectations. Every parent meeting is 90% fundraiser discussion.
My daughter’s preschool had one of those book fairs the other week, where in addition to buying books for your kids you’re heartily encouraged to buy some for the classroom. But, like, aren’t we already paying for tuition here? Isn’t that money supposed to go toward buying books already? Whatever. We bought one.
I’m in Northern California and I’m seeing this in spades. We haven’t reached Cupertino levels yet but I consider our school disctrict to be semi-private at this point. The sad fact is that this trend is increasing the gaps between those schools where the parents can afford to make up the difference and those where they can’t. With the legacy of prop 13 which crippled property tax revenue years ago and the current state budget crisis its only going to get worse.
As a friend of mine said recently, the wealthy are pulling the ladder up after them. We’re just trying to catch on to the last rung as it goes up.