Sunday, January 23, 2011

Weekend Reading and...

My latest Parentella post is on a topic that comes up for me on an all too regular basis:

Has Public School Been Privatized?

When we went to Info Night for our local public high school, we learned the fees for Choir ranged from $1800 - $3200. Had Sylvia been interested in joining, I would've been all over that! I'm fairly certain I've produced full-scale musicals on a smaller budget.

Parents need to ask questions. Even if you're not a PTA officer or volunteering in the classroom, all parents have the right to ask questions about funding, or any other concern. Whether we're paying schools in our taxes or tuition, we have a right to ask.

1 comment:

qandlequeen said...

We've become complacent and just accept the decisions other people are making. Of course speaking up risks you landing on a committee and enduring mind-numbing meetings - punishment for not going with the flow.

Board meetings are public. It's important to show up and hear for yourself what's going on. These are the people who dictate how your tax dollars are spent, who approve your child's curriculum, and are unaware that their cheaper lunch program includes nachos as a balanced meal. Somebody surely appealed that $3200 was a "reasonable" amount of money for a quality choral program and the board nodded in blind agreement, dazzled by promises of some meaningless state arts award.

Attend, speak up. It's important.