A Fair And Balanced Education
As the parent of a kid who plays multiple sports, I feel the pinch that the Star Tribune talks about in this article. As much as I understand that sports are necessary to help a young person grow, I also understand that the schools mission is to educate kids - not provide a farm program for local colleges.
What bothers me is some of the numbers that the article mentions.
Do the math - the Lakeville school district spends $1M a year on extra-curricular activities????? Wouldn't some of this money be better used in teaching "at risk" kids? How many other districts are spending this kind of money on athletics?
I think that raising participation fees is an excellent idea - even if it does stretch our already thin budget even further. It gives the Logical Husband and I a way to help the Junior Logician prioritize. If he wants us to cough up the activity fees, he has to be responsible for keeping his grades at an acceptable level. That said, when the Logical Husband and I were in high school we did not have separate teams for each grade. 9th and 10th grade students played on the Junior Varsity team while the 11th and 12th graders played on varsity. Maybe it is time for schools to go back to that model.
When push comes to shove though, many of these activities are a luxury. 99% of high school student athletes will not make it to the professional ranks. It makes sense, in these tough economic times, that the items that are cut are not the items that the vast majority of the students will need to be successful adults. Things like math, history, English and the other core curricular subjects are the things that schools need to focus on most. Not monument buildings, not staff and sadly not athletics. However if parents can chip in (by car-pooling kids to the games hauling equipment to games etc) to help offset other costs we should. We are (after all) partners in our childrens education and partners are there to help - not just foot the bill.
What bothers me is some of the numbers that the article mentions.
In Lakeville, the district's two high schools will each cut $200,000 (20 percent) from their activities budgets for 2009-10 and participation fees are expected to increase.
Do the math - the Lakeville school district spends $1M a year on extra-curricular activities????? Wouldn't some of this money be better used in teaching "at risk" kids? How many other districts are spending this kind of money on athletics?
At Armstrong High School in Plymouth, participation fees have been raised to $200 for athletics and $100 for activities. But there is still not enough money to buy basic sports equipment like bats and balls. Hockey, skiing and lacrosse teams are no longer allowed to rent bus trailers for hauling their gear to competition. Ninth-grade teams in soccer, tennis, softball and wrestling have been eliminated. And a creative thinking-based academic activity called Future Problem Solving has gone away because, well, because there was no way to solve the current financial problem.
I think that raising participation fees is an excellent idea - even if it does stretch our already thin budget even further. It gives the Logical Husband and I a way to help the Junior Logician prioritize. If he wants us to cough up the activity fees, he has to be responsible for keeping his grades at an acceptable level. That said, when the Logical Husband and I were in high school we did not have separate teams for each grade. 9th and 10th grade students played on the Junior Varsity team while the 11th and 12th graders played on varsity. Maybe it is time for schools to go back to that model.
When push comes to shove though, many of these activities are a luxury. 99% of high school student athletes will not make it to the professional ranks. It makes sense, in these tough economic times, that the items that are cut are not the items that the vast majority of the students will need to be successful adults. Things like math, history, English and the other core curricular subjects are the things that schools need to focus on most. Not monument buildings, not staff and sadly not athletics. However if parents can chip in (by car-pooling kids to the games hauling equipment to games etc) to help offset other costs we should. We are (after all) partners in our childrens education and partners are there to help - not just foot the bill.
Labels: Education
posted by The Lady Logician at
9:43 AM
5 Comments:
I could see a "voucher" given to each student each year, enough to cover one activity. Hockey or other high equipment cost sports might be tough. You spend it on a sport, drama club, marching band, etc. Beyond that, parents pay.
By
R-Five, at 1:43 PM
You've barely scratched the tip of the issue. I think if you check, you'll find that the $million budget is gross, less of activity fees and ticket sales. I think you'll also find that this number represents something like 1% of Lakeville's school budget.
Activity fees vary are usually fixed, rather than dependent on activity, while the cost of activities varies wildly, by as much as 100:1. Activity fees, on average, pay only 20% of extracurricular costs, with the taxpayers picking up the rest.
In short, it sounds to me like Lakeville is just being smart. Is there a problem here? No more than the excessive amount charged for that "education" supposedly being delivered.
J. Ewing
By
Anonymous, at 3:17 PM
How about just focusing on the education core. Let private concerns provide these other extracurricular activities. Let local businesses sponsor poor kids in these private leagues. Why do these things even need to be tied to the schools at all?
By
Scott Hinrichs, at 4:25 PM
Reach - this is where I am torn. My inner penny pincher says that you are correct, however I also know that physical education is part of an overall well rounded education. Especially now when it seems like the only "sports" most kids play are Electronic Arts sports (video games).
Where I do have problems with the whole school sports thing is when we get to the point where the athletics department has a bigger budget than the Science Department or the Math department (or in most cases) all the core departments COMBINED! It is about making smart choices and the way our school districts are spending now is not smart!
LL
By
The Lady Logician, at 9:25 AM
Has it come to this?
Football Coach Charged In Player's Death
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99911098
By
Anonymous, at 7:03 PM
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