public school fees?

Just another reason for me to homeschool.... School boards are political entities and really not very good at allocating $$$ so that the children benefit.

Jennifer

[houseelf]

I just found this article in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press...
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One way or another, parents pay
BY NATALIE Y. MOORE and JOHN WELBES
Pioneer Press

This fall, the Barnette family of Andover will pay $600 so their three children can take the bus to school. Their oldest son wants to play three sports when he starts high school. That adds up to at least another $600.

Like many families in Anoka-Hennepin schools and elsewhere in the metro area, the Barnettes are writing ever-larger checks for school services that now are free or carry a modest price tag. For some families, the fees will easily top $1,000 next school year.

While the Barnettes can afford the fees, they will have to make adjustments.

"It will be a stretch. There will be things that will be cut back," Mary Barnette said. Friday pizza nights and snowboarding, for starters, may happen less frequently.

School boards wrestling with budget deficits have made headlines as they cut teachers and close schools. The districts' decisions to ratchet up fees — from sports and transportation to tuition for all-day kindergarten — were less controversial, even welcome given the alternatives.

But for many families, they won't be cheap. And while many parents have gotten used to the idea of paying for some activities, they'll likely feel sticker shock next fall, as many fees spike anywhere from 20 to 70 percent.

• Anoka-Hennepin approved $10.1 million in cuts and fee increases for 2002-03. The district will receive $1,049,000 in co-curricular activity fees and athletic ticket prices and $1 million from transportation fees.

• Mounds View Public Schools increased fees for athletics and other co-curricular activities to bring in $348,500 next school year. The district needs to make more than $4 million in cuts.

• The Burnsville school district essentially doubled its student activity fees to bring in an additional $195,000 next year. The additional revenue was part of a $5 million budget fix the district made this winter.

Even in the Rosemount-Eagan-Apple Valley school district — where student activity fees will drop 25 percent next year — they'll still be substantially higher than they were a couple of years ago.

Fees there were raised 75 percent or more this year before district voters passed a levy referendum. Next year, students in grades 10 through 12 will pay $120 per sport for activities such as basketball, baseball and soccer.

NO BACKLASH, YET

Minnesota parents remain relatively quiet on the issue of increasing fees. When school districts make budget adjustments to reduce expenses or raise more revenue, the fee increases are often the least objectionable items on the list.

"I think (the fees are) reasonable. I see the situation for what it is. We're not working with the same kind of money and we're making cuts," said Peggy Magnuson, who has two children attending Mounds View schools and will spend $200 next fall so one of her children can take the bus.

"That seems to be one that people can absorb without sacrificing a kid's education," she said.

Education experts say the trend is mostly confined to wealthier suburban districts.

"It seems the districts that are doing most of this, or more of it, are districts that don't have a significant proportion of low-income parents," said Karen Seashore, an education professor at the University of Minnesota.

Christopher Lubienski, an assistant education professor at Iowa State University, has monitored fee increases in districts around the country. Fees, he said, raise the question of what, exactly, is a "basic" education.

"What a taxpayer sees as more peripheral, a family might see as essential to classroom experience. I wouldn't be surprised if these (fee instances) ended up in court," Lubienski said.

They have in some states.

In Omaha, Neb., a parent accused the school district of illegal taxation and sued over fees for field trips, lab supplies and locker rentals. The district stopped collecting the disputed fees, and the parent dropped the lawsuit. Meanwhile, the state education department came up with a list of what can and cannot be charged.

And in Pasadena, Calif., the district reimbursed students for about $200,000 for three years' worth of student fees for identification cards and music instrument rentals, uniforms, among other things.

St. Paul and Minneapolis are imposing slight increases in fees next year, but the districts are much more cognizant of fees they impose because of the severity of poverty; two-thirds of the students in St. Paul and Minneapolis schools are on free or reduced lunch. Those students typically receive fee waivers.

But the rising fees raise philosophical questions and might — someday — prompt a backlash, according to Seashore.

As higher fees become more prevalent in schools, "all it does is it raises to the surface economic differences that are apparent … to most kids," she said. But the fees will also be become a financial burden for some families.

"When do parents of four children rise up in arms and say, 'We're being messed around with?' " she asked.

Gregg Larson, a school board member for White Bear Lake — which increased activity fees by $30,000 for next year and is debating what to do about busing — worries about the trend.

"My summary is that it's a trend I hope we don't see continue to any great degree. (Raising money through taxes) obviously proves to be a challenge. I'm still open to the conversation regarding busing, but I don't like the path that leads us down," said Larson, adding that he worries about fees creeping into the general education fund.

FEE-BASED KINDERGARTEN

In some districts, parents have the explicit option of paying more if they want a full-day kindergarten, a relatively new phenomenon.

In the West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan district, which is now in its third year of offering fee-based kindergarten, roughly 60 percent of students sign up for the all-day session.

The need to charge a fee "is very confusing for parents," said Barb Runkel, principal at Garlough Elementary in West St. Paul. The district charges, she tells parents, because the Legislature only funds kindergarten for half-days.

"We call this an enrichment option," she said, "which it is. But it's a hard concept considering they don't have to pay when they go to first grade."

Districts that have made the move to fee-based kindergarten usually go out of their way to inform parents about the tax credit and the subtraction to make sure they take advantage of it when doing their state taxes.

Minnesota's tuition tax credit, which provides relief to families who make $37,500 or less, has caught the attention of school districts and parents looking to minimize the additional expense of things like fee-based kindergarten. Families that make more than $37,500 can still subtract tuition expenses from their income to get some money back.

"The district gave us so much information on that," said Ann Vogel, a parent of a kindergarten student at Salem Hills Elementary in Inver Grove Heights. "There's the tax credit, and scholarships (through the district)," she said.

But like many parents who choose the all-day schedule, the Vogels didn't consider the fee a barrier. Their son would be going to day care for a half-day without the all-day kindergarten program, which would also be an expense.

Heidi Dzieweczynski, another parent at Salem Hills, saw the same thing. The kindergarten tuition of $2,340 is comparable to what half a day of day care would cost, she said.

The hardest part of the process for her, in fact, was waiting to find out whether there was enough demand for the fee-based option to launch it at Salem Hills.

They needed at least 17 children to sign up. They got 22.

Our property taxes increased by $500/ year this year to pay for a school levy...Private school (catholic) here is $120/month...and considering that we pay more than $500 in property taxes, I figure that we're already paying for private school for one child....

To top it off, our school makes the kids who are in kindergarten and up participate in tacky fundraisers...our kids came home this year and were supposed to SELL crap to other people..you know...rolls of wrapping paper priced at $8/roll, etc....in exchange for some competition where they could 'win' a dollar store-like prize! I refused to participate and returned the info promptly to the schools (I always look like a big wiener, but I don't CARE!) I find that kind of behavior completely innapropriate....this fundraiser was supposedly to pay for the children's fun-night at school... WE ALL ended up having to pay for our pizza, etc there anyway..

There is a certain argument in there for pulling out of the schools..though you can't change a system from the outside...

Kris
"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be."

Douglas Adams

Well, actually, if enough parents take their kids out of public schools it WILL prompt change.... I think I am tempted to run for a school board position one day - even if I never have a kid in public school. Then, perhaps I can change things from the inside as well! Remember the suggestion that you should run for school board? Maybe you should!

Jennifer