Comments about ‘Sports fees for charters worry board’

Once again, they want their cake and eat it too. Welcome to reality. Breaking away is not cheap, and either are high school sports.

Let me get this straight, if Charter Schools were dissolved and the students went back to their respective public schools then the costs would be less, or even more affordable? Hmmm, but then again, we would have less of a percentage of the total students playing sports which would be more equitable to all... Why can't the Public Schools pony up to help the situation to allow Charter Schools to play? This really shows the arrogance of Public Schools towards Charter Schools....

Charter School parents pay the same taxes which pay for the Public Schools sports programs. Since Charter Schools are a different form of Public Schools which use Public monies why the discrimination?

Charters are growing out of control. No one anticipated this. They need to be placed under the authority of local school boards or be shut down.

Charters may be growing out of control in some people's opinions but they definitely should not be under the control of the local School Boards. Why did they split off anyways? If you ask the founders of the Charter Schools you would find that they probably split because of the lack of response from the local School Boards.

I realize that it must have come as a shock to the Charter folks that sports cost money. Apparently they forgot that balls, bats, helmets, uniforms, playing fields, scoreboards, officials and all of those other aspects of a single game have to be paid for. Simple economics would explain that a smaller population would have to pay a higher price just because there are fewer people shouldering the burden. That is not unique to Charter Schools. In a school district my tax dollars may go to re-sod our arch enemys football or softball, perhaps the Charters should band together to reduce the cost. As for the districts "ponying up" I don't see any reason to provide sports welfare. You chose to be a charter school, there are costs for sports either pony up, or quit whining. Sports programs are not a right.

Don't see why the charter schools and their parents can't be out there doing what the rest of the booster clubs and parents do: Sell advertising space in the sports programs to local businesses, work in concession stands, buy the $75 shoes, ask for money from supporters, wash cars, sell - and buy - your school's t-shirts and hoodies. And if you still haven't raised enough money after all this, hope the school can find a little to make up the difference. There is never enough money to go around for high school sports.

And try to have fun while you are doing all these things. Remember, it is for the kids....

This isn't about politics, opinions, etc... It's about kids. Charter schools are public schools that fill a niche that was left out by the traditional public schools. That is the reason for their existence in the first place. If the kids want to play sports while getting a quality education why should they be penalized? That said: they would probably benefit far more by creating their own league. Unfortunately, Charter schools are so drastically underfunded that this would be next to impossible to achieve.

Why should public schools pay for charter shcools, doesn't make sense to me you choose to attend these schools you pay the fees!! Lets say I wanted to go hunting on your private ground would you let me do it for free, oh no thats worth some money to you and you pay property taxes every year so you are going to charge me. On the other hand I can hunt the public ground with no extra fees. I am not going to pay more taxes so you get another discount! Go pay your high tuition fees to these schools and get the same education you can get from a public shcool, its all about the work the kid puts into it not what the teacher teaches the kid!!

It's my opinion that the school districts are generally insulted by the very existence of charter schools. It wouldn't surprise me to find their ego causes them to act in power-hungry manner hurting the students not under their jurisdiction.

If they are receiving the same funding as the school district, then they should pay the amount necessary for the sports if they want to participate. It reminds me of a case of home schooling, which I have no problem with. A parent just decided to come into my classroom and borrow, without permission, some of our classroom books. Those books were bought by the school district by the tax payers to be used in our school in my classroom. If I hadn't caught that parent and stopped them, I wouldn't have had enough books for my classroom. It's the same way for Charter Schools, if they are not receiving the amount needed for children to participate in sports, they need to complain to the state legislature. Where is the money going that they are given for these activities from the state, if in fact they are given the same amount as the school district per child? Perhaps they are spending the money in other areas. These charter schools need to be audited, just like district schools, especially when it comes to the money needed for children to participate in sports. We need more information.

I strongly support charter schools.

Did the legislature not give charter schools an equal portion of the money? Are they not at funding parity?

IF they are, then they should stop whinning. IF they are not, let them whine.

As for deciding costs, that should be easy enough to do. Simply do an audit of the funds and you are done.

I think that Charter schools were set up to be an alternate to the public education system. It allowed parents another option for their children to receive a quality education. With education being the keyword, if they choose to field athletic teams they should have to pay the offset costs. If quality education is the goal then it is best served without athletics.

The solution is simple. Get rid of the dual public school system. Charters want to be separate entities, and then they want to be part of the mainstream system at the same time. In my opinion, you can't have your cake and eat it too. They are now getting property tax money from school districts. Why don't they take that money and build their own sports facilities and put together their own teams?

The Charter Schools do not receive the same funding as do public schools. They do receive the WPU and a bit extra but they have no taxing authority, therefore, they have no voted leeway, no bonds, etc...

Charter schools will be getting quite the funding increase this year. The "traditional" school districts now have to pony up a per dollar amount of the property tax revenue they receive and hand it over to charter schools. I just cannot describe how this makes me feel. They are the personal pet project of arch conservative republicans in our state legislature who just don't give a hoot about public schools. I vote for a bond increase to give my kids decent schools, and the legislature hands a large portion of that money over to the charter schools. Exciting place to live, isn't it.

Thanks to the 2008 Legislature, your Charter School will now receive a portion of the School District's property taxes. While Charter Schools will still have no taxing authority, they are receiving taxing authority benefits.

American Leadership Academy in Spanish Fork and Rockwell Charter High in Saratoga Springs have found a way to have competitive sports, maybe other Charter Schools should contact them to find out how to it all. ALA has been in competitive sports for at least two years and that without the extra tax money from the School District.

Bottom line if sports is sooooo important to the Charter School parents they need to either find a way to finance a team at their Charter School, have the Charter School pay the District's portion of the sports program or leave their child in the District School. You wanted choice, you made your choice now you have to live with the consequences of that choice.

It's stunning to read opinions thrown about by persons who have no understanding of the facts.

@Clare - parents who send their children to PUBLIC charter schools (the only kind in Utah) are also tax payers who fund textbooks. I'm astounded that you, as a teacher, could be ignorant of this.

@RE: Oh MY - Charter schools ARE PUBLIC SCHOOLS and they do not charge tuition.

@Raise the money, charters - Parents of charter school students who play sports in neighborhood schools DO raise funds with other parents as part of their child's participation with that team.

If any of you are interested in how schools REALLY work perhaps you might consider visiting one for a day.

I don't think we are that ignorant on charter schools. They get the WPU for students that attend, have a ceiling on the number of kids per classroom (makes public schools envious on that one), require parent participation, don't have to worry about transportation costs, probably have more flexibility than a public school, and are constantly seeking to get a greater portion of the public education $$.

And the school - and the parents and kids - should be able to raise extra money to play sports with the public schools.

Those prices are outrageous and discriminatory. With the amount of lawyers who send their children to Charter schools, expect litigation as these fees are 'in addition' to the regular fees associated with the sport. I paid $25 for Track fifteen years ago. I'd have to pay whatever the current fee AND $75 if I was home schooled or at a Charter.

I my opinion many of the comments are totally of point. The article is talking about students who attend a charter school and want to go back to their "home" school to participate in athletics; not about charters starting up their own teams or leagues.

These are students for whom the school has lost the funding. The district or school can't be expected to subsidize these returning students who are coming back only to participate in athletics. Therefore, the student or the school sending the student back must pay the cost of the participation