Apparently, at least one of our county elementary schools is using a similar tactic to motivate their students to drive up profits from a fund raiser. The students are encouraged to raise as much money as they can to help support the school. But only the children who bring in at least $150 would get to participate in a special celebration. In this instance, a foam party. So if a kid doesn't bring in at least the minimum of $150, no party. And if they bring in $250.00, they get into the Carnival for free. Kids that don't raise the $150, don't get to go to the foam party but they can still go to the carnival if they pay $15. This is wrong on so many levels.

To make things even worse, the adults in charge have set up competition between all the children in each grade and overall. In each grade, the girl that brings in the most money is crowned princess and the boy that brings in the most money gets to be prince. Then there is an overall prince and princess title for the boy and girl that brings in the most money overall. My gosh, these are five to nine year old kids. This is just sick. 

My personal disdain for school fund raisers goes well beyond my time on county commission and school board. It goes back to when my boys were school age and would come home with sales assignments. I didn't like it then and I don't like it now. I used to offer my kids a copy of my property tax bills to take to their teachers to show how much we already donated to the schools. The goal of public education is to educate children. What possible educational benefit is there in making children beggars and goaded them into fund raising?

Apparently, the little kids can't even take time off from begging during fall break.

The premise behind fund raising is always the same. "The schools just are so desperately in need of money." This is just not true. This year's Loudon County schools budget is more than $40,000,000.00 for nine schools. That budget includes $573,144.00 for instructional supplies. That includes over $48,000 instructional supplies for Eaton's alone.  That's on top of the supplies parents are required to provide.

It's admirable that administrators and teachers want to have the best in whistles and bells that money can buy to help educate our children. But to use manipulation of an army of cute little children competing for the affections of those in positions of authority whom they so desperately want to please, is in my biased opinion, just wrong. Let the grown ups raise the money and let the kids be the kids.

I fear that some are losing perspective on what education is about. I'm sure all the high tech equipment for the class rooms make the school day more fun and maybe even more productive. But to perpetuate a system that in essence will divide children in financial classes within our schools should never happen. After all, the kids in the first thru fourth grade can't really go out and raise money can they? That task falls on the shoulders of the parents, who more times than not, are the ones who would have to come up with the $150 minimum so their child can share in the special prize. This certainly has the potential to alienate the children of lesser means.

If there were actually any financial shortfalls in school funding, that failure falls on the shoulders of the school board. Maybe parents and educators should ask them why fund raisers are necessary at all. What are they spending all the money on?