“Why are parents subsidizing the textbooks and drama classes schools should be paying for?”

Karin Klein:

ut mostly I’ll be writing checks for all the things that public school doesn’t pay for anymore.
I was sifting through my check register the other day and here’s how this academic year has added up:
The required locker fee was $5, then $200 for cross-country booster fee, $9 for a vocabulary book (since when do schools make us pay for textbooks?), $240 for bus transportation for my youngest kid, $100 for drama booster fee, $70 for dance booster fee, $45 for associated student body fee, $150 for track booster fee, $23 for required summer-reading books, $50 toward grad night — I’ve written more than $800 in checks for a free and public education.
That doesn’t count various donations or incidentals. At least one spending decision was easy — I’m boycotting the PTA until it starts holding meetings when parents with regular working hours can attend.