On a local listserv for parents of 4-year-olds born in August or September, discussions recently became heated when one mother of three said it was tempting to send her eldest to kindergarten just as he was turning 5--many parents in my town send their fall-birthday kids to kindergarten the year they turn 6--so that she could have "free daycare." A kindergarten teacher on the list pointed out that schools are not free--they're supported by taxpayers--and costs to taxpayers escalate when children, especially boys, are sent to school too young and end up needing special attention and services. Of course, parents of school-age kids (public, private, or homeschool) get dinged twice--as taxpayers first, and again when they're asked to pay for supplies, classes, and services that used to be provided, at public schools at least, at no additional cost to students' families.
On Monday, Sally Arguilez Smith of San Diego News Network highlighted "the hidden costs of a free public education." She details some of the items for which parents are asked to pay:
Pencils, notebook paper, crayons. Basic school supplies have become standard purchases for parents at the beginning of each school year.
At the high school level, these fees can jump to thousands of dollars, when athletics and other extracurricular activities are factored in. With job losses and the recession continuing to affect families, these educational costs brought to the forefront California laws guaranteeing the people’s constitutional right to a free public education - laws of which many parents may be ignorant.
Smith reports that this month the San Diego Unified School District trustees recently created and posted
guidelines on under what conditions schools may charge fees to students and parents for curricular and extracurricular activities. The trustees reaffirmed that the California Constitution forbids the charging of fees for these activities:
This constitutional right of free access encompasses all educational activities, whether curricular or extracurricular, and regardless of whether credit is awarded for the educational activity. The right of free access also prohibits mandated purchases of materials, supplies, equipment or uniforms associated with the activity, as well as the payment of security deposits for access, participation, materials or equipment.
A couple months ago, John de Beck, a board of education member for the San Diego school district, emphasized that when school officials have asked parents to pay fees or coerced them into making mandatory "donations," the teachers and administrators are breaking the law. He provided a great deal of detail as to
what fees are allowed and what aren't in a post at San Diego News Network:
Some exceptions are allowed, like insurance for athletes, but the list is not expansive, and parents should question any demands for payment for school related classroom materials, uniforms, team travel or other costs. A rule of thumb is materials bought for projects that students can keep and bring home is appropriate. So a wood shop teacher could charge for wood used by a student for a personal bookcase, but he could not charge for a required project that every class member must do in order to get a grade. Requiring an expenditure for a personal project , like a bookcase, in order to get a grade would however be unconstitutional. If it is required, the materials should be provided. A school athletic (or cheer) uniform is not a personal project.
The costs Smith shares from San Diego are stunning: For example, $800 for a cheerleading uniform, on top of coaches' fees and tuition to cheerleading camp. And all this in violation of a 25-year-old court order forbidding such fees in California.
San Diego parents aren't alone in their frustration; Smith's post highlights fee controversies and guides in other districts, including Riverside, Calif. and Gaithersburg, Md. For an example of the kinds of fees parents are paying in Arizona as school budgets are slashed, check out this article by Pat Kossan. The fees hit impoverished families particularly hard; the Daily
