Schools turn to fees after drop in state aid

07-29-2011

By Morgan Smith/New York Times (The Texas Tribune)

As strapped public schools try to squeeze every possible dollar out of their budgets, an unpleasant reality awaits parents: They will most likely have to pay for programs and services that schools once provided free. As strapped public schools try to squeeze every possible dollar out of their budgets, an unpleasant reality awaits parents: They will most likely have to pay for programs and services that schools once provided free. “We’re going to see districts charging fees for things that they have always been able to but just haven’t chosen to in the past,” said David Thompson, a former general counsel for the Texas Education Agency who now represents school districts. Across the country, such fees also threaten to draw lawsuits — affiliates of the American Civil Liberties Union in California filed in September against what it called the state’s “pay to learn” public schools — about what it means to provide a “free” public education under state constitutions. (more...)

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