:o) Livinggreen: I am sure some people do waste more money on lottery tickets and alcohol but not me. After I get done paying my bills I don't have anything left, ha ha. But really next year I will have 2 kids in college and because we are middle class we don't qualify for grants and I am still waiting to see if we can qualify for low interest loans but either way I will be paying ALOT of money out over the next 5 to 6 years for my kids education. What the system fails to grasp is that until about 8 years ago we were not making enough to be middle class so there is no college savings account for us to use (hard to save money when you make $7 an hour and you live paycheck to paycheck) so they say we make too much now but after paying all the bills and the extra cost of gas for heating and at the pumps we don't have alot left over.

I don't have kids and I'm not complaining. Children are the future and we have to acknowledge that. It is disturbing to see how much people complain about schools and taxes and how much this or that costs. I've worked in various jobs throughout my life and I've seen people waste so much money on items such as lottery tickets and alcohol. I'm willing to bet that people spend on average far more on those items then they do in education.

Oh and by the way: troublegirl69- things like yearbooks and pictures are optional- you don't have to pay for them if you don't want them.

While I understand the people who do not have kids are upset that they pay more in taxes do you not realize how much more money those of us that do spend raising our children? Please don't tell me then you shouldn't have had kids because I am not complaining that I spend alot of money on raising them, I am just pointing out that fact. My kids are a blessing and it costs alot in other fees and areas other than just property taxes that are used on the schools. So yes we may get a tax break for them but trust me we are paying out alot more than we are getting.

Oh wow, $100 for 185 days of instruction. Well that is about 54 cents a day away from free educatuon. That is just terrible...

Oh nothing is "free" in this country. I have a child in 7th grade. It cost me over $100 to register her. There is a fee for her to walk in the door, there is a fee to rent a locker for gym, there is a fee for books, there is a fee for towels. Don't forget pictures. Then add lunch money and yearbook costs and sports fees. Then on top of it, they send a school supply list home the length of my arm which will no doubt cost at least another $50 and 30% of the list is for the teachers use. White out, dry erase markers, clorox wipes to name a few. Public school is definitely not free!

um.....A public education is granted by the Wisconsin Constitution at Article X, Section 3, and provides that public schools "shall be free and without charge for tuition to all children between the ages of 4 and 20 years."

Just a reminder. This article is not about a proposed tax increase. It is about increasing school fees. We parents pay these fees every year when we send our kids to school. On the average, the cost is 20.00 per child in elementary and middle schools. Yearbooks are extra. These costs increase when the child(ren) reach high school. Athletic fees, parking fees, etc. I, personally, would not object to this increase in fees as long as cut programs would be returned. Fair is fair...they make more money, they should be able to afford the programs they cut because they said they couldn't afford them.

I agree with greenst. People who choose not to have children for various reasons should not have to pay more money for schools. People without children already pay enough towards schoold through property taxes. If the schools need more money, then perhaps people with kids should pay a little extra. They already get a huge tax break for having kids. Seems that people without kids, who therefore use less public services, always pay more taxes. Go figure.

greenst...
I am not from Janesville but school fees are everywhere you go. They are a hidden tax and for some families especially those with multiple children they are a hardship. As far as your comments about not having children and not having to pay for other people's...who is going to run this country in the decades from now until you pass away?? Who's going to continue to work to pay the taxes that will pay for your social security and medicare? Would you rather live somewhere where uneducated children grow into uneducated adults? There are places like that. Educated children grow up to be good workers, leaders, politicians, professionals. Uneducated or undereducated children (not all) grow up to be criminals, dependant on state welfare systems, or working poor. Stop complaining about paying taxes to educate children; these are children you most likely will not have to support through state agencies and welfare in the future!!

Tsk, tsk greenst. We need all these children well educated so that they can compete in the global economy, make a good wage, and pay alot of taxes to handle the huge national debt we've accumulated buying government projects such as the Alaskan bridge to nowhere, the Robert Byrd federal building in West Virginia, and the 160 Billion dollar + election year economic stimulus tax rebate, otherwise known as the incumbant promotion act, just to name a very few.

It is about time. People that make the choice to have kids should pay more for their kids education then the people that choose not to have kids. How about they make it the same amount they get to deduct from their income tax for having them. At least make it the $300 they will get per kid from the tax stimulus package that people without kids will not get.

rex,
I agree. I'm curious to hear what the extra fees will be spent on. Will they allow the programs and/or classes that were cut, to be reinstated? Hmm. Would be nice. But I highly doubt it.

My gosh, a manufactured fee that hasn't been increased in 10 years, well by all means I guess it should be raised. I mean why should the school district take a backseat to the Gov. when it comes to raising compulsory fees. It's not like the district has money coming from property taxes....oh, wait, that's right, they actually do get money from our taxes. But hey, why not pass on even more costs by raising fees, that way we can all pretend it's not a hidden tax. How about I just save government the trouble and just sign my paycheck over to them every two weeks and they can give me an allowance.