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Show -Gigi Brandt1~HAT IS A FREE EDUCATION? The Utah Constitution provides that 'common schoo1s'thru grade 8 are free and this rationale provides free instruction, textbooks and materials for Utah students grades K thru 8. However, in high school some districts charge fees for book rental, activity cards, locker fees, fees for special classes and yearbooks. The Utah LWV position supports the textbook rental fees, with adequate provisions made for low income families. Some junior high schools also charge locker, activity, yearbook and fees for special classes. According to state school board regulations, fees are optional; however, low and middle income families are finding that school districts don't always follow the rules. In June, a subcommittee of the Education Inte_rim Committee of the Legislature Tooked at the question of fees and education. A Granite school district single mother of six related her experiencec Last fall she found she could not pay for the unanticipated fees amounting to an excess of $60 at registration time for her oldest child. Part of the fees included a yearbook which takes on importance because many high schools spend one or more days in the spring allowing students to sign each otherts yearbook. Those who can rt afford the yearbook often. elect absence to cover up their lack of the book. (One can ask if this really adds to a chi1d s education.) She told committee members that it was not possible for the child to get a job because she depended on her to take care of her five siblings after school. In February, the school announced that copies of the yearbook could sti11 be ordered and the student took her babysitting money to order the book. The school took the yearbook money and told the child the yearbook could not be obtained until the optional fees were first paid. The parent ended up paying for the fees so the child could obtain the yearbook and participate in the signing daysG 1 A PTA representative dfscussed the results of a PTA survey. One child was told that he cou1d participate in debate, but could not be on the first team unless he spent $1000 to attend a workshop in California. The Weber School Superintendent spoke of parent pressure to win at dr111 team, debate, and other activities. It is not uncommon for pep club members, cheerleaders and drill team members to spend $200+ for uniforms and travel fees. A letter was read from a single parent who could not afford $30 for a drafting class fee for her junior high son. A Utah Issues researcher told me of a child not being able to vote in school elections because he did not have an activity card. With the school population pressure in Utah, parents of high school children are being asked to provide more of the costs of education, previously paid for by taxpayer funds. Unless an individual has a student in school, he generally is unaware of the issue of feese (I wrote a check for $100+ to enroll my two children at East High School last month-- that represents~ significant burden to many low and moderate income families.) SALT LAKE VOTER -3- September 1985 |
