Public School Costs...

[roadracekid]

sports are important to the kids that play the sports,  sports keep the kids out of trouble and also keep the kids that arent that modavated to get good grades.  At my school u had to hold a c average to play sports.

[Woofentino Pugrossi]

Dave you should see how f-e dup Janesville School district is. $70 million (yes M-I-L-L-I-O-N!!!) referendum for stupid ass shit thats NOT NEEDED (ie new landscaping, putting air condition in the new elementary school built not more than 5-7 yrs ago (they built it WITHOUT air con and non opening windows) because the teachers are whining about the heat in teh early summer months. They LOVE to spend money here on frivilous stuff. Art Deco style building fronts, $1M dollar swimming pool that the public voted against but yet they still built it.

[Super Dave]

Have I opened a can of worms...   

Why should a select number of kids have "opportunities" even when others don't have those opportunities?

A JROTC program would be an opportunity, and more would actually be able to benefit from a career from some kind of service.  The NFL is such a long shot.  It's nice that someone would be that good, but...that's a rare opportunity.

On the flip side, for a period of time, I went to a Catholic HS.  To play, you pay and invest time.  School wasn't free either.  There were guys there that went on to play college football and coach for college teams.  Haven't kept track of them lately.


Why should tax payers provide complete opportunities? 

[Super Dave]

sports are important to the kids that play the sports,  sports keep the kids out of trouble and also keep the kids that arent that modavated to get good grades.  At my school u had to hold a c average to play sports.

I think the first part is tellling.  Sports are important to kids that play the sports.  So, why should they be funded by the families that don't have kids that play sports?

Why shouldn't I be able to invest that money in my kid's education?  That could be education during HS years or after.  Again, that would keep my kid out of trouble, maybe. 

[Super Dave]

Heck make the NFL pay for school football because they ultimately reap the costs of great football players.

Now that's very interesting...

[JBraun]

Why should a select number of kids have "opportunities" even when others don't have those opportunities?

 

Right now everyone has an opportunity to do something. Sports, theatre, music, whatever.
If you make the parents pay for those programs, THEN you're selecting who gets the opportunities and who doesn't.
There are hard working parents out there who simply could not afford to put their kid into sports.
There are also loser parents who would rather spend their money on cigarettes and beer than get their son or daughter into sports. Why should their kids suffer?

[fourandsix]

I have actually been on 2 school boards and still am on the High School Education Foundation board. I worked for both referendums at the High and elementary schools (both passed). I have been the president of the  Baseball and football feeder programs at the high school for over 12 years.

Until i became involved i wasn't sure as a taxpayer if i was getting ripped off on my property taxes by the schools. Once on the inside i was surprised how screwed up school funding is. It is very hard to understand as the state requires many dumb things here in IL.

I would get involved more at your district level , then you can see where the money really goes.

Jim

[Garywc]

school sucks it useless
maybe teaches you spell or some thing like that but who needs that
here in New jersey we have the SCC the school construction corp or some shit like that. and since I am partners in a small union shop we do alot of school work.
there is almost 700 million of school work to be since i think 2001 to 2010 so far the SCC has gone broke twice because of misuse of funds then the latest was 30 million given to them from some kind of grant and they hired over 10 people to make sure that the money don't get misused again. but each of those 10 jobs is around 50 to 100 thousand a year per person to watch money.
then there is no one who is watch the or inspection the buildings for the mot part so there is a lot of corners cut and crappy work going on. so in a few years once these contractors are paid and the buildings start falling apart the schools lose out and the tax payers.
then there is the school buses that are paid for with tax payers money
one school bus was picking up kids in one town to bring them to another school for some classes and there was an illegal  alien getting on the bus and taking it to the school then walking down the road to the farm where he worked.when the driver said something to her office they said let him do what he wants don't start any trouble.
so thats some good tax money well spent if you ask me

[Super Dave]

Well, we have differences in opinions, Jason. 

Sports, music, theater...  do it away from school.  School should be about some core things and that's it.  I feel that "public education" has developed far away from from public education.  Sports, theater, music.  That's special interest.

As for parents that spend money on cigarettes and beer...

There are parents that spend money on cars and other things too.  I'm not sure if that's the responsibility of retired home owners to pay for those things.  Why should the public school system be enabling to parents, married or otherwise, to not support their children with their car and cigar money through tax payers?

[Garywc]

here the celebrate the 100th day of school by having the kids put one hundred things on a pice of paper or a hat
that must teach them something.

[Super Dave]

Yeah, we have that here too. 

I like it when my kids draw airplanes with 100 bullet holes or something then...LOL!

[weggieman]

What is education? Is it just reading, writing and math? I don't think so. An education does not stop at the three R's. It should be an education into as many things as possible. The sciences, the arts and more.

If tax payers only paid for the services they each want there would be no services? I drive a 4 wheel drive truck, does that mean I should have the choice of my taxes paying for snow plowing or not?  If I compost and recycle everything in my house should I have the right to pay or not for garbage pick up? What about police protection? I rarely if ever call or need a cop. Should I have the choice of not paying for a police dept. through my taxes? Think about it.

My daughter attends a Catholic school and we pay dearly for that. We also pay and volunteer for her to participate in extra curicular activities. The school does pay for a lot though, travel and other expenses for her team to participate in meets. On that note......why am I paying taxes for public schools since I'm paying for my daughter to attend a private school? Because if we didn't there wouldn't be any publkic schools!

I would much rather have my children attend a school with other activities than the three Rs because I guarantee they will have a better education because of it. In anything they do outside of the three Rs they are learning. They learn sportsmanship, team work, ethics and more. More than they would get with a "basic" education.

I wouldn't mind paying for a school system that I know is doing a good job. If yours isn't you need to get more involved and make sure they do. i'm paying for Milwaukee Public schools and never had a kid in them!!