The Reason for School, Indeed
Last night, my dear friend, PlaywriterGirl, wrote about how it seemed the only reason for school these days is to learn how to raise money. Please go check out her post. Well, I've just returned this evening from my children's school's Curriculum Night, where I presumably was supposed to be told about the content of their expected learnings this year. What's the first thing out of the Art teacher's mouth? Something about (and this was a new one to me) an Art Fundraiser.
Come on.
First, I pay school property taxes. A lot. (See my immediately preceding post for the devious way that I have to pay more and more school taxes each year.) But it seems that my school taxes and all the other school taxes paid to Cy-Fair ISD are just not enough. We have to have an Entertainment Book fundraiser for the school where many/most of the parents are shamed into buying an Entertainment coupon book on the premise that (the third pillar of liberalism) "it's for the children." Fine, I'll buy the silly book, just quit the begging. Then, next month, there's the Sally Foster Fundraiser. (No clue, don't even ask, I have no clue.) So, I pay my property taxes, I buy my Entertainment Book, I do whatever it is that Sally Foster does, and still the Art teacher needs yet more money. Somehow, taxes and two fundraisers cannot yield enough money to buy paint, paint brushes, clay, and whatever else an Art teacher needs.
Don't ask me why I distrust educrats. Don't ask me why I am suspect of my children's teachers. Don't ask me why I vote "NO" on any bond issue that is put before me. Instead, tell me exactly what the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District did with $329,892,850 of property tax revenue for the 2005-2006 school year budget. Answer that question, and perhaps my children and PlaywriterGirl's children and lots of other children won't have to become fund raisers.
ABOUT ME
3 comments:
Mr. LB,
You'd love John Stossel's book, "Myths Lies and Downright Stupidity." He's definitely a Libertarian (he thinks there's nothing wrong with people wanting to sell their organs... and I just ain't there yet, man).
Health care and education, brother. I'm gunning for 'em and I've got 'em dead in my sights.
-AH
When I was a teacher my art teaching buddy informed me that at our high school there two football helmets cost more than the entire art budget for two full-time art teachers (sans salary, of course). Football is the real culprit in secondary school--or those who elevate to such an unnatural level.
These were expensive helmets, by the way for two who had suffered previous injuries. Why it was worth it to spend $400 each, I do not know.
Anyway, as you can imagine, art class costs more than many more traditional classes where all supplies are automatically provided, such as staplers and pencil sharpeners.
But on the whole--I agree with everything you said.
Amen to that! After 7 years of homeschooling,(where I was reimbursed from the government for my schooling supplies with exactly $0.00 of public money) my son has decided he wants to attend the local public high school. (Where it is my understanding that they receive ~ $10,000.00/student/year.)
The orientation night consisted of "welcome to the school, football is great, the freshmen class must do one fundraiser for the next 4 years of extracurricular costs, unless they don't raise enough money, then they will have to do more, and you can pay your $50.00 registration fee tonight or soon after school starts." I still haven't heard a satisfactory explanation of why there is a $50.00 registration fee to attend a public school in a state which hands over a little more than 40% of all taxes raised to the department of education. What are they spending it on? My guess would be advertising.
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