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7/9/2009
Should taxpayers foot bill for summer camp?
First question: Is the Appleton Area School District expecting less state aid for the 2009-10 school year?
Second question: Have we been hearing all year about budget school district budget deficits and resulting layoffs?
Third question: Is summer school a “need-to-have” or a “nice-to-have?”
I don’t get this. We’re in difficult straits all over the state – and still, state and local tax dollars are paying for summer school classes.
Nature exploration, outdoor games (outdoor games?) and woodshop. Cooking classes. Dance, fashion and design and scrapbooking. Hula-hoop contests and banana cream pies. And yes, some kind of math and science as well, according to yesterday’s Post-Crescent.
For families cutting expenses in a questionable economy, it's an affordable, close-to-home alternative to more costly summer camps, and for kids it's just plain fun…
….Fees are $5 or $10. A free breakfast is served.
Faith Hajenga said summer school was an opportunity she couldn't pass up for her daughter. "I didn't want her just sitting in front of the TV all summer. I looked at what they were offering and it was very affordable unlike a lot of camps. Plus there were a lot of things kids her age are interested in, like technology which kids will need to know."
….Aaron Mankovecky and Joseph Jackson, both 13-year-old eighth-graders at Roosevelt, said their parents made them take summer school, partly because they needed practice in reading and writing to keep up their skills, and partly for fun.
"Our parents thought this would be a good way to separate us from the TV and enjoy life more," said Mankovecky. Staying in the habit of learning during the summer, making up required classes so a student can graduate – those kinds of rationales make sense. Challenging classes, perhaps even critical remedial classes in math, science, history, literature – that kind of thing. But banana cream pies and outdoor games? What am I missing here?
Jo Egelhoff, FoxPolitics.net
COMMENTS
yeah, JO, what’s up with summer camp? Summer school used to be academic catch-up for under-achievers, then it became get-ahead for over-achievers, now it sounds like subsidized child care. Maybe new DPI guy Tony Evers could issue some guidelines on acceptable publicly funded summer camps.
timbeaux (Thu Jul 09 07:26:54 2009)
Follow the money. Although there may be a variety of reasons districts have summer school, one of those reasons is they get to count those students for state aid purposes. More summer school students, more state aid.
dale (Thu Jul 09 08:36:45 2009)
Excellent questions Jo. There are two summer schools. One of the summer schools was not mentioned in the article.
The summer school not mentioned is for Special Ed. students and kids who need to catch up on credits. Teachers for this summer school are paid their "contractual rate".
The summer school referred to in the newspaper is as you explained. Teachers in this summer school are paid less. It would be very interesting to see what the cost of the summer schools are.
I would also be very interested to see the cost of the students who are "credit deficient" and catching up in the summer.
David (Thu Jul 09 08:55:49 2009)
You hit the nail on the head Dale. This is angling for state money. Using some local money to do it. ALL of it is MY money. Dang it.
Jo (Thu Jul 9 09:15:28 2009)
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