I heard Matt Lauer keep using the phrase "pay to play", but the officials use the proper label, "pay to participate" - there's a key difference Matt didn't pick up on. That said,
Our district (upper middle, mid-west) increased p2p fees this year to $125/HS student, any # of sports; $65/MS student, any # of sports. I was shocked to hear there are public schools with MUCH higher fees per Lauer's report. I personally don't have a problem with it - compare the school's fee to club sports and it's still way cheaper. In our district, there's money and/or waivers available for those who need it. Maybe that's hard for a family to admit their need, but our Athletic Director assured the parents that no child would be excluded for an inability to pay. I'd rather contribute some than see the programs cut all together.
NBC's Today Show did a story this morning about school districts that have had to tighten their purse strings to a new level. The concept of " Pay to play" whereby for each child enrolled in extracurricular activies needs to pay upwards of $500+ for an opportunity to participate. Fees would not guarantee play time, in fact some would still face the inevitable bench time during the games, but in order to pay for uniforms, coach time and field rentals the fees are there.
I believe this is mostly on themiddle school and high school levels. I would love to hear from some of the PTO Today parents who are facing these situations in their own schools.
