Wow, the summer is really flying by this year.  It’s already August, and even though the school year doesn’t start until September in Maryland this year (it was pushed back to a “post-Labor Day” start by state government decree last year), things are already starting to gear up on the education front – specifically, extra-curricular activities.

Yes, band and sports parents know well the pull of the school campus come August.  Daily fall sports practices (for things like football and soccer) have begun in earnest.  Summer band is in full swing.  It is also time to start “back to school” shopping (ugh!) for clothes, backpacks, lunchboxes, and assorted school supplies.  Didn’t these kids just get out a few weeks ago?

Now I know we often tout public school as a “free” education, but that claim should have a big asterisk next to it.  As any parent can tell you (or educator for that matter), public school is anything but free.  As states continue to cut budgets and slash money for education (as well as continue to cut taxes, reducing even more revenue), the funding for public schools continues to be diminished year after year.

Remember when legislators promised that money from the state lottery and casino gambling would bolster educational funding?  Well, it funded things all right.  In a typical governmental “bait and switch”, legislators then redirected the “normal” funding line items in the state budget for education and used those resources to fund other programs, salaries, and services, so the gambling money is no longer “extra” funding – it’s “the” funding.  Some school systems have even suffered major funding cuts, as there just isn’t enough income to go around.  That means that new school construction (and renovations) get put off, programs like music, visual arts, and physical education get eliminated, and teacher salaries stagnate.  As a matter of fact, ask any teacher how much of their own money they put into their classrooms every year.  The answer may shock and surprise you.  Look closely at a classroom list of supplies for elementary and middle school students.  There will be line items for things like boxes of tissues, glue sticks, reams of copier paper, and hand sanitizer – all for shared classroom use.

So where does that shortfall get made up?  Go take a long look in the mirror.  Yeah, that’s right.  It’s up to you, Mom and Dad.  You want Billy to play football for the high school?  Get ready to pony up an athletic fee, bus fee, and athletic booster fee.  Jenny wants to play in the band?  Same thing.  From the FFA to the cheerleading squad, if you want your child to participate – there’s going to be an associated price tag that goes along with it.  Want to join the PTA?  They’d love to have you – and will also expect a donation to help out.  I won’t even mention all of the fundraising one will be expected to perform throughout the year.  School organizations hawk everything from wrapping paper and popcorn buckets to raffle tickets and coupon books.  It’s like we’re all in a bad Amway distributorship.

Parents will be obligated to cough up hundreds (in some cases, even thousands) of dollars every year in order for their kids to get that “free and public” education.  I’m not even talking about college, which is a whole other funding nightmare.

So buckle up parents.  Get out that checkbook and steel yourself for the dark days to come.  Oh and by the way, little Johnny shot up two inches over the summer (and now has the nutritional needs of a blast furnace and eats like he developed a tapeworm).  Guess you’ll be clothes shopping and loading up at grocery store as well.