School daze

Here it is again. Early August and summer is over, or so it seems. I'm not a teacher, so I don't get summers off, but I work at a college, so people assume that I do. But that's not nearly as irritating as the daily mail -- no exaggeration -- we receive from the high school or the elementary, often both -- about the coming year. (I applaud the communication, but abhor the duplication and inaccuracy.)

As my son enters high school this isn't entirely unexpected, but geez. With a $3 locker fee here and a $79 materials fee there, and a $30 activities fee here and a $50 football camp fee there, I'm beginning to wonder if my taxes support anything more than the school district post office.

Oh, and it'll be $9 (not required, but strongly encouraged) for the freshman orientation t-shirt and $15 for the custom fitted mouthguard. For parents, the booster club will be on hand to sell sweatshirts! Need insurance? We got a great deal for ya. And if you really care about your son/daughter, they need a calculator that costs nearly as much as a computer.

No Child Left Behind should be renamed No Parent Left With a Dime. And school should start after Labor Day and end before Memorial Day. Teachers can go "in-service", during the summer. If that requires year-round contracts, I'm all for it. But tax me, please, my mailbox is full.