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Show ...................... ...................... . Thau: y OU Thank y OU Thank y OU Thant. y study, The Crossroads of Education i n 1 983, our members supported the imposition of fees for books at the high school level, °w'ith adeQuate provisions m~de for low i nc:ome fomilie~ . With that po~ition, we have supported the 1986 Amendment to the Utah Constitution permitting fees to be charged for secondary 3tudents and 'w'e oppo3ed the Con3titutional amendment 'which would allw fees to charged for elementary students during the recent legislative session. OU BENEFACTORS Dorothy Croft Emily Hall (Education Fund) Stephl!lAie Loker Norm.a Matheson George and Na.ncy Melli.Jig Charlotte Newm.aa Madeleine Noehrea We have long appreciated the concern for low income families that the Salt Lake School District has evi de need over the yea rs. However, i n vi e\v' of the omi no U3 fi na nci al 3i t uati on that education faces, 'w'e \v'0uld support the imposition of fees, either outright school students if the or rental I for books for hiQh • di strict edo pts adequate policies for those -students \v'ho can not pay. In our mind, waiving of fees does not mean 'w'aivi ng for only parents who are on AFDC but for other low' income families. With the coming of federal \v'elfare reform \v'e urge, should the book fee be adopted, that the dfatrict look for creative 'v/ays to help lo'vl income families pay for their children's books and fees. CONTRIBUTOR.S A.1Jlla Aadersoa Irene Fisher lnedaR.oe Peggy Shaw L WVUS PMP CONTR.IBUTOR.S Joyce Barnes Pat Brim . .. Arletta Elton Betty Madsen Nonna Matheson Natalie Malliacrodt :R.oz McGee Charlotte Newm.8Jl The League has a 1ong ti me co nee r n with school fees. We know that outside activities are an important part of e.d oc.ati on and that imposition of fe.e$, de ma oded b 1J may precl Ude payment of fees. ~ ········-··-··-··-··-······-··-··-······-······-·····economics~ lllrit - TESTIMONY: IMPOSITION OF BOOIC FEES AND MAND ATOR. Y ACTIVITY FEES SALT LAKE CITY BOAltD OF EDUCATION Thi:s i:s a :speech given by Gigi Brandt te the S.LBoud of Educalien. Thank you for this opportunity for the League of Women Voters to comment on the proposed change of Salt Lake City School District's policy on book and acliwyf ees fort he city high schools. The League supports quaity education for Utah school students. We have consistenllyvoiced ourconcems that the amount ot money spent in the stale does not pro-v;de quality education. We realize that limi e d revenues sn d large school populations ess entiaDy mean l hat parents are going to be incr~glycalled upon to pro'¥ide some of the costs of education. Pl. the same time our organization is acutelya'w1ll'e of the difficulties facing lo'w'incorne fM"lies, particularlythose headed by a sin gt e 'w'oman. /J.s a res ult of our state Salt Late Voter Again 'we ere concerned about lO'w' and., even middle income., families 'w'hose are excluded because they cannot pay. We suspect that a large portion of Salt Lake City high school students do not participate. We could not support the district's efforts to make the fees mandatory 'w'ithout evidence that a large number of students., from all income families, participate in the activities. With the economic and demographic data collected in the recent pro~l to clree a high school., some of this data should be available. Also, before such fees become mandatory, the patrons and public should have so me accounti ng about hw activity fees are spent by each high school. We continue to be concerned about school fees. The recent publicity about a student·s removal from an athletic teflm be~u~ of her e11eged failure to ~11 8 $70 advertisement is an example. Ane 'w'e become concerned 'w'taen 9-10% of a grade for a choral group et one of the district's high schools can be earned by -9- psrtici pation in a choral trip outside of the state. COJlli:JlW4 O:D. pagt 10 Ha1 1987 |
