Hard times and higher fuel prices will follow kids back to school this fall
By ersmommy1
@ersmommy1 (12587)
United States
August 18, 2008 9:43am CST
Children will walk farther to the bus stop, pay more for lunch, study from old textbooks and wear last year's clothes. Field trips? Forget about it.Children will walk farther to the bus stop, pay more for lunch, study from old textbooks and wear last year's clothes. Field trips? Forget about it. How is the economy effecting your kids school year?
2 people like this
6 responses
@FaerieAne2003 (679)
• United States
18 Aug 08
My stepson lives with his mom and goes to school about 25 minutes from where I live. On Thursdays, I pick him up from school, and Friday morning I take him back. On "our" weekend, I also pick him up on Friday. That's 20 miles one-way. 40 miles per trip, multiply by 5 trips in 2 weeks, equals 200 miles. My car gets 21 mpg. That's $38, 2/3 tank of gas (and I can only afford 1 tank every 2 weeks)...JUST to get him back and forth to school. Not to mention ALL of his school supplies (right down to the d@mn glue sticks), 1/2 the money for clothes and shoes, AND child support, AND 1/2 of his checkup copay when we already pay for ALL of his insurance.
I think we got f^cked, and my husband refuses to say anything (or let ME say anything) to Her. So it costs, and costs, and costs some more for my stepson to go to school.
Thank you President Bush, for your No Child Left Behind program. It's great that your pockets are so bulging with the money you've made from the sale of your over-priced gasoline that you can afford to give all the children in inner-city schools get brand-new frickin laptops, while I have to struggle to BUY GROCERIES for my family. My kids have to use outdated books, pay more for processed sh!t from the cafeteria, further impairing my ability to afford to buy them GOOD food at home. That's nice. Hope your French caviar and pat'e are delectable, especially on your private jet that the taxpayers bought for you, and continue to purchase YOUR gas to fuel. B@stard.
Shutting up now before a real rant starts here!
Have a great day.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
23 Aug 08
Actually you can thank the environmentalists for blocking the opening up of land in which there was oil and stopping the companies from doing off-shore drilling. And also you can thank Al Gore and his fake book An Inconvenient Truth for encouraging of converting corn and wheat fields for food into ethanol that gives less gas to a gallon than regular gasoline.
Then again those children that should not have been left behind do not deserve having an education, being slum kids, do they?
An answer for your rant.
@FaerieAne2003 (679)
• United States
24 Aug 08
"An answer for your rant." Are you serious?! Shut up, you idiot, and reread my post. Does it say ANYTHING, ANYWHERE about ANYONE not deserving an education? No. EVERYONE deserves an education. It just so happens that I care more about MY KIDS and MY MONEY than about anyone else's. My post DOES say plenty about that. Since you are obviously misconstruing my statements, let me just correct you on a few points:
THANK GOD I'm not a bleeding-heart environmentalist! Don't get me wrong (again), I reduce/reuse/recycle as much as I possibly can. Selfishly, though: The more lights I turn off, the lower my power bill is. The more I reuse, the less I have to buy. The more I recycle, the less I have to pay in local taxes (they sell the recyclables to companies that reuse them, gaining free revenue). HOWEVER, I voted FOR offshore drilling, as well as FOR drilling in the Alaska Wildlife Reserve. So don't tell me who to thank; our oil-baron President is the monkey running the zoo. And evidently, no one in any sort of power cares how hard the working class little people are being crushed by ever-increasing prices of EVERYTHING. I do agree with you that Al Gore is a fool.
Do you really think that a kindergarten laptop will stop over half of those kids from dropping out of high school? Don't make me laugh! Overcrowded schools, outdated books, pitiful transportation, teachers that just don't care, and you SERIOUSLY think I'm saying ANY kid doesn't deserve an education? ARE YOU STUPID?! I'm saying they're not getting a GOOD education, and that the money being spent on kiddie-laptops could be put to far better use in the EDUCATION SYSTEM.
"No Child Left Behind" is a scam, if you haven't noticed. When my stepson started school this year, his school-supply list didn't only include HIS supplies, such as crayons and scissors--it also included TEACHER'S supplies. Dry erase markers, paper towels, storage bags, TWENTY PENCILS, Clorox/Lysol disinfecting wipes, and all this was expected of EVERY CHILD IN EVERY CLASS. What the hell? I always thought the school was AT LEAST supposed to supply the TOILET PAPER! Since when did it become the parents' responsibility to provide all that?! Oh yeah--since the "slum kids" got all the funding, thanks to "No Child Left Behind".
My kid's school has a classroom set of outdated books in every subject for each teacher. There aren't enough to go around due to overcrowding, so even in class they have to share. But the "inner-city" school for the "slum kids" in the same city got new laptops, books, renovations, and extra teachers.
So you tell me--who's getting the sh!tty end of the deal? I'm confused. Is it the rich people, the working class, or the "slum kids"?
@suspenseful (40192)
• Canada
23 Aug 08
My granddaughter is not ready for school being only a little over a year and with what is going to be taught in public school, I hope my son and daughter-in=law save enough for her to go to a private school. But my friends whose children go to a Christian private school have to pay tuition. Most of them work in the publishing house for our church, have their own businesses, or are teachers and nurses. It is hard to work for a store when they do not want you to have Sunday's off, so some of them only go to church in the am. But most of them shop at Value Village and Goodwill for clothes. And there are also handmedowns. So it will be the same as normal.
@FaerieAne2003 (679)
• United States
24 Aug 08
I replied to your comment. See above.
Homeschooling is also a good option, if the resources are available. Socialization is the only "issue", but many organizations offer weekly play-dates for a minimal fee (if anything). Contact your state's Home Education Association for info.
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
23 Aug 08
Nothing wrong with wearing last eyars clothes as long as they fit still and are in good shape. We have gotten some nice new like clothing from Goodwill and ohter thrigft shops. My mom did buy a few new outfits however as well for the first few days of school.Last field trip my little sister took with the school cost her over $6 to take. What ever happened to ones that didn't cost a thing? They seem to do more and more fundraisers for school but it doens't seem to help with the field trips. Actually they are thinking of cutting school days here in Kentucky in the next county over and I am sure ours will follow also of having the days cut back to just 4 days a week instead of the usual 5 to save the school money. The kids however will go a extra hour or two a day to make up for it
@whittby (3072)
• United States
23 Aug 08
The principal told us at orientation that his budget for the school year operating expenses was slashed from $400,000 to $80,000. Wow. He asked that we send stuff in with our kids, only if we could afford it. He asked for the usual kleenex and stuff but also asked for reams of copy paper. I'll send some - Walmart has it very reasonably priced.
@lilybug (21107)
• United States
18 Aug 08
My son's school lunches are the same price as last year. The bus still picks him up in front of the house. The school got new books last year. My son got a bunch of new shirts, but not many jeans yet since he is still wearing shorts to school. His school rarely had field trips to begin with.
@metalhalo (599)
• United States
18 Aug 08
Well so far we're still getting the same price for lunches. Our state has a school lunch program that if the family doesn't make a certain set amount of income, then the lunches are either free or reduced. We were still able to buy him school clothes for this year and I drive him to and from school. Thankfully we just live several blocks away. I'm sure when he's a bit older he'll prefer to walk. As far as I know his school is still participating in field trips as well.
The only thing the gas prices have caused us to is put our family vacation on the backburner. The gas prices here have actually started to decrease within the last couple of months. .50 to. .60 I believe.
