There’s always some drama popping off surrounding professional athletes and their college sports past. Whether it’s Chris Webber being stripped of his contributions to the University of Michigan or Reggie Bush having to forfeit his Heisman Trophy, the stories keep pouring in about who illegally accepted pay for play. But are these athletes in the wrong? Shouldn’t they get paid for helping their respective universities generate millions of dollars? Well, TAP took to the streets of LA to find out what YOU thought about the pressing matter.

By J. Smith

The public school system has been forced to a new low, requiring students to pay to participate in extracurricular activities and even some basic classes. With new “pay to play” rules being implemented in schools across the country, an invisible line is being drawn in classrooms separating the have’s from the have not’s – those whose parents can afford for them to take Spanish and play basketball, and those who can’t. Kids from poor or working class families will now be unable to enjoy school the way their wealthier peers do, on top of receiving a one-sided and decidedly lesser education. This sounds like the perfect way to lose the president’s “race to the top” initiative.  

“Public schools across the country, struggling with cuts in state funding, rising personnel costs and lower tax revenues, are shifting costs to students and their parents by imposing or boosting fees for everything from enrolling in honors English to riding the bus,” The Wall Street Journal reports. “At high schools in several states, it can cost more than $200 just to walk in the door, thanks to registration fees, technology fees and unspecified ‘instructional fees.’”

What a sad day in the nation’s history. Grade school is the place people decide their college majors or dream about a future career or nourish a penchant for debate or earn sports scholarships for college. The pay to play method effectively strips all of those opportunities from the children who need them most, providing an even more narrow window for them to climb through for success. This sounds like an attack on the middle and lower class – and it’s always dirty to get children involved.

According to Karen Dombi, a parent profiled in the Journal article, the total cost for a year of Spanish I and Earth Sciences, band, cross-country and tack for her children was $4,446.50. “I’m wondering, am I going to be paying for my parking spot at the school? Because you’re making me pay for just about everything else,” Dombi told the Journal.

With school so hard up that companies are paying to advertise on school buses and in text books, you just may have to pay for that parking spot Ms. Dombi. And while parents are deciding if they can afford the parking space fee to attend their kid’s parent-teacher conference, the school system is making an even bigger decision for them: Children who can’t afford to compete in enriching school activities simply won’t be able to compete in the real world. It’s decided.