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Tuesday, May 31st, 2011

School Districts Nationwide Implement Controversial ‘Pay To Play’ Fees

Author:    
Source:     The Huffington Post
Publication Date:     05/30/11 01:03 AM ET
 Link: School Districts Nationwide Implement Controversial ‘Pay To Play’ Fees
Stephan:   Have you noticed that we repeatedly choose to sabotage our collective and human self-interest, so that a tiny percentage of us can be preposterously rich. We do this even though it undermines our children, and our future. We are eating our seed corn, and increasingly reducing our potential for having a successful society. This is going to continue until we awaken to a new perspective on the world, and our place in it.

An Ohio school district is the latest to implement a controversial ‘pay to play’ policy, reports The Wall Street Journal. Medina Senior High, faced with budget cuts and repeated rejection of proposals to increase taxes, has started charging students for, well, just about everything. After-school sports, clubs, electives and even required courses such as Spanish all carry a price tag.

The Dombi family is feeling the strain; education and activities for their four children racked up a bill of $4,446.50 this year. And even then, they had to make some tough choices — their oldest daughter had to forgo choir as it would cost an additional $200.

‘It’s high school,’ Ms. Dombi told The Wall Street Journal. ‘You’re supposed to be able to try different things and see what you like.’

In a recent editorial, the Los Angeles Times questions the constitutionality of similar fees in California.

Charging fees to students to offset budget cuts is not legal, just as it would not be legal to announce that in an effort to make ends meet, schools will no longer accept students of Filipino descent, or girls. Student fees deny opportunities to low-income students and put […]

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