School Fees WTF happened to taxes cuzz

26 posts / 0 new

Wed, 2009-09-02 07:19

Rexdale_Punjabi Rexdale_Punjabi's picture

im about to cut but I wanna highlight this I might add on more l8r but take it in. So a "good" school k (mci in this case) kids pay 75 right (sister goes there atm) in the hood we paying 50 right. So 25 difference but look at the vast difference even in the fact of how good vs bad the school is and the fact that the majority of the kids at mci who live in that area can pay that. Here like last year I paid my own way n my sister did too. This year dukes is employed so we didnt have to u know but it still highlights the fact that 50 or 75 aint a drop in the buccet u know and ppl are paying that just to go to school for basic shit like a ID card, planner, etc.

What I wanna get at is throughout the year too shit will come up n bare ppl wont go cuz they cant pay (been there done that lol) what happened to school be free and shit. They taxing more but I guess the money just going to harpers mansion and I guess manz are like school children too u know they need extended paid summer break a li?

Fucc atleast they still giving out free rubbers.

Tue, 2009-09-01 12:48

Michelle

Are you talking about high schools? What are school fees? My son isn't in high school yet, so I don't know anything about this.

Tue, 2009-09-01 13:11

Caissa

These are often disguised as locker fees or some such. Our oldest is in middle school and his fee ($25?) includes a locker with lock, a school agenda and a school t-shirt. The fees as RP points out are often more insidious at the high school level. I'm not sure if there has been any jurisprudence around these fees in a public school system.

Tue, 2009-09-01 13:33

Star Spangled C...

Michelle wrote:

Are you talking about high schools? What are school fees? My son isn't in high school yet, so I don't know anything about this.

I would assume fees would include stuff like gym uniforms, any books which can't be re-used, etc. There are fees for field trips obviously. And I would assume that if you're playing sports or doing music, there may be additional fees for those kind of things. If you're in a school with uniforms (virtually all catholic schools, I think) there would be fees for that as well.

Tue, 2009-09-01 13:34

Michelle

Oh, yeah - they don't lump them together in elementary school, you just have to pay bits and pieces here and there for various things, like their "agendas" and such. I figure if teachers are using agendas as tools, kids shouldn't have to pay $9 for them. And it really ticks me off that my son has to pay other fees, like an up-front fee for the entire year's worth of "special guest" assemblies (apparently if they don't pay, they get to sit in the classroom and do work while the other kids get to go to the show), and then of course there is the constant begathon all year long, please donate to this, please donate to that, etc.

Wasn't there some sort of charter challenge to school fees in BC or something like that?

Tue, 2009-09-01 13:36

Michelle

Here we go.

Quote:

B.C. school districts cannot charge students for any materials or equipment required to finish a course leading to graduation, the province's Supreme Court has ruled.

Such fees, as well as charges for field trips considered necessary to the curriculum, contravene the B.C. School Act, the court said in a judgment issued Friday.

Although apparently the BC government, troglodytes that they are, decided to introduce legislation changing the law so that school boards COULD charge fees to students:

Quote:

Government introduced legislation today to allow school districts to charge fees for some courses and materials, said Education Minister Shirley Bond.

“This government committed to act on behalf of parents, students, teachers and school boards who expressed concern that programs might be cancelled because of a recent court ruling that limited school fees – and this bill meets that commitment,” said Bond. “This legislation will protect core education programs that students require to graduate, while allowing districts the flexibility to charge fees for specialty academies, trades training and music equipment."

            Under the new legislation, school districts may charge fees:

·           To defray non-instructional costs to operate specialty academies, or costs that are in addition to the costs of providing a regular education program;

·           For the purchase or rental of musical instruments for a student’s personal use;

·           For the purchase or rental of tools, materials or equipment for a student’s personal use in trades training or apprenticeship programs.

            Bill 20 amends the School Act, which requires school boards to provide an education free of charge to every resident student of school age living in B.C. and enrolled in a school operated by a board. It also prevents boards from charging for educational resource materials necessary to participate in an educational program.

Tue, 2009-09-01 13:39

Star Spangled C...

Rexdale_Punjabi wrote:

This year dukes is employed so we didnt have to u know but it still highlights the fact that 50 or 75 aint a drop in the buccet u know and ppl are paying that just to go to school for basic shit like a ID card, planner, etc.

Just wait till you get to college where every textbook costs $100. And if you major in anything science related, you'll get to learn about this wonderful little thing called "lab fees"...

Tue, 2009-09-01 13:43

Michelle

University and college tuition isn't really on topic, SSC. Whether or not anyone thinks post-secondary education should be free, the issue is why they're charging elementary and secondary school students money to go to school. It should be illegal.

Tue, 2009-09-01 13:47

Michelle

An interesting site re: school fees in BC.

Tue, 2009-09-01 13:47

#10

Star Spangled C...

Okay, sorry.

I agree that anything "academically required" shouldn't cost money. That goes rather contrary to the idea of "free education."

I also would hate to see people excluded from certain "extras" because their parents can't afford it. Like if in english class you're studying a Shakespeare play - Hamlet, say - and there's a local production of Hamlet that the teacher wants to bring the students to on a field trip and a couple of kids are stuck back at school while everyone else gets to go.

Tue, 2009-09-01 13:48

#11

Michelle

In BC, that court ruling said that anything tied to academics must be free, so that would include any field trip that is related to school work (such as taking students to see Hamlet if they're covering Hamlet in school). The only things that they were okay with having parents pay for is non-academic, extracurricular stuff that in no way affects a student's grades or coursework.

Tue, 2009-09-01 13:54

#12

Caissa

Which only serves to exacerbate socio-economic disparities.

Tue, 2009-09-01 17:50

#13

Polly B

Here in we-have-more-money-than-god Alberta, our high school fees are somewhere between $200 and $250 per student. This does not include regular supplies, gym clothes, field trips or hot lunches.

I have three kids in high school this year. Fekking expensive. Hope they don't want to eat or wear clothes or anything.

Tue, 2009-09-01 20:10

#14

Sineed

My older daughter is starting high school next week, and today she went for orientation, and to pay the $50 fee, which is supposed to cover the lock for her locker, and other things unspecified. Personally, I don't have a problem with paying a small fee like this. Fifty dollars over an entire school year is pretty cheap, and Toronto schools are underfunded; if collecting a small fee from everybody makes things better, I'd rather do that than wait for the government to institute adequate funding.

Tue, 2009-09-01 20:54

#15

RevolutionPlease RevolutionPlease's picture

Education pre-post-secondary should not require one dime more than the taxes you pay. I have seen the misery this nickel and diming causes for families and children.

Tue, 2009-09-01 21:12

#16

Sineed

RevolutionPlease wrote:

Education pre-post-secondary should not require one dime more than the taxes you pay.

I totally agree but in the meantime, my kids' schools are underfunded, their education will suffer without these fees (no field trips, for instance), so I pay them. If legislation were passed that made it illegal to charge these fees, they wouldn't start funding schools more - it would just be crummier. And I can't afford private school.

Tue, 2009-09-01 21:25

#17

RevolutionPlease RevolutionPlease's picture

I hear you. Hmm, maybe if they didn't allow private schools. ;)

Tue, 2009-09-01 21:42

#18

Michelle

Polly B, so nice to see you!

Tue, 2009-09-01 23:21

#19

Polly B

Thanks Michelle, back atcha. Summers (prettymuch) over and the kids are back in school, I might be able to pop by more often.

Wed, 2009-09-02 00:25

#20

bagkitty

Polly B wrote:

Here in we-have-more-money-than-god Alberta, our high school fees are somewhere between $200 and $250 per student. This does not include regular supplies, gym clothes, field trips or hot lunches.

I have three kids in high school this year. Fekking expensive. Hope they don't want to eat or wear clothes or anything.

Interesting experiment you could conduct Polly. Contact the school administration, and ask them to provide you with printed material demonstrating their legal authority to level this fee. Say you will be happy to pay when you see something from the Queen's Printer explicitly giving them the authority to level the fee. Unless something has changed in the last couple of years (and that is always possible - I dont have kids and consequently do not keep up on this) you could well find they do not have the legal authority to charge the fee. I did have a friend who successfully forced the local school to back down on this... but you have to be willing to fight them over it.

Wed, 2009-09-02 07:20

#21

Michelle

Problem is, you don't want them to take it out on your kids. Which they might.

Wed, 2009-09-02 07:23

#22

Michelle

Or better yet, keep your kids home for the first week or two. Just tell them, "Sorry, I don't have money for the fees," or "I choose not to pay the fees, so I guess my kids aren't going to go to school."

Now, people ARE allowed to homeschool, but often school boards hate it when parents do so, and sometimes try to throw their weight around when it comes to people who try to do so, and they try to get parents to show them education plans and such (which apparently, in Ontario at least, parents don't have to show either, because some parents "unschool").

They can't have it both ways. They can make school cost money, or they can make school universal and force people to send kids to school, but they can't do both.

Wed, 2009-09-02 11:34

#23

Polly B

I always miss my kids the first week, so I would love to keep them home. Ha ha, for them...not so much. Because we are rural, they go all summer without seeing their friends so it's a big deal to get back to school and the whole social thing.

And yes, they do somewhat take it out on the kids if you don't pay the fees. My kids have been told they don't get a locker until the fees are paid, and that's a lot of books to lug around. My youngest was still in Elementary last year, and he couldn't do the school swimming classes until we paid the fees. It sucks.

I have questioned the school about the fees (I am ALWAYS questioning the school about something, the principal hides when he sees me). Apparently Albertas School Act allows them to charge for instructional supplies and materials, end of story. If you don't pay your kids miss out on the fun stuff and aren't given a locker. Fekk. I have also heard that some schools are sending delinquent parents to collections, tho that hasn't happened to me. The worst I have got is multiple bills sent home - one per month - made out not to me but to the student (my son or daughter) that they pertain to. Makes the kids uncomfortable and truly pisses me off.

It's on my list of things I have to protest. Ha ha ha, I live in Alberta, that is one MIGHTY long list - I need to live to be 100.

Wed, 2009-09-02 18:49

#24

yarg

It is pretty crazy how expensive it's gotten, my kids came home with a list of required supplies today. My wife being ever prepared already bought a bunch of stuff, but they were still short several things..including red pens for underlining..I mean come on can't they underline with a blue pen, shouldn't you be able to see the straight blue line underneath those squiggly lines known as letters, sigh.

Wed, 2009-09-02 19:15

#25

Michelle

Dear Polly, please come live with me. Sincerely, Michelle. P.S. Bring the kids. :)

Thu, 2009-09-03 07:44

#26

Makwa

A quick aside if you please - many schools insist on using those cheap circular combination locks so that the combination can be recorded in the office, and these locks lack a strong guard around the hasp. This policy should be reconsidered, because these locks can be easily opened with a shim, which can be cut out of any aluminum can. If you must use a circular combination, insist on one with the security brace around the hasp.