Now, I am all about volunteering in the schools and for causes that are close to my heart. But forced volunteerism for parents in the schools is not the way to go about fixing things. In case you didn’t click on the “Bill 519″ link, I will summarize: The bill would require all parents to volunteer 13 hours each school year, or else pay a $100 fine. If you do not meet the 13 hour requirement and refuse the $100 fine, it will be taken from your state tax refund.
So, I ask, what about the parents who are working their butts off to make ends meet, sometimes working more than one job? Or the parent who stays home with one or more of their children because daycare costs more than college? Or the hourly wage worker who gets no time off and has to make every penny count? Or parents who are ill or on disability? It’s not so simple to say every parent has to volunteer – and isn’t the definition of a volunteer as a person who performs or offers to perform a service voluntarily? With the price of gas hovering near $4.00 a gallon, grocery bills starting to soar, yearly levies by the school districts raising taxes because they mismanaged their money, parents driving their kids to school because they cut the busing, and paying extra for programs such as music, art, foreign languages, and sports, and some of our finest teachers leaving because you pay them next to nothing – this is just getting ridiculous!
Here’s some food for thought – pay your teachers what they deserve to be paid, lower the f%$!%ing gas prices, get the dirty politicians who spend our tax money on prostitutes OUT OF THE GOVERNMENT, bring back meaningful classes in our schools, bus our children to and from our schools, stop mismanaging our school money and begging for more to mismanage every year, and encourage parents to volunteer – but do not force them!
Debate, discuss, vent, rant, etc, etc…
7 responses so far ↓
1 Tara R. // Apr 3, 2008 at 4:04 pm
I’ve never heard anything like this… you also need to add the parent who shouldn’t be around other children to your list of who shouldn’t be volunteers. What about homeschooling parents? Do they get credit for volunteering at home? I hope this bill dies in committee.
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2 mombabe // Apr 3, 2008 at 6:44 pm
so now do I not only get to worry about the examples other kids set, I have to worry about the scumnugget dad thats there strictly to put in his “hours” Hope he’s not drunk!
Bravo people. You keep getting stupider.
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3 Irene // Apr 3, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Holy cow, that is CRAZY. What about those parents (like me) who would volunteer but with one very special needs daughter and one toddler, there is very little opportunity to even get out of the house at all?
Government scares the HE*L out of me.
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4 OHmommy // Apr 3, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Ugh! They are getting dumber and dumber. We need to appoint some MOMS for governmental positions.
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5 Lisa // Apr 4, 2008 at 8:37 am
When I taught there were parents that I would not have wanted to volunteer in my room…..
I think the idea of encouraging parents to volunteer is a good one, but to fine them for not volunteering…a little extreme.
Good ideas though. Mamawise for President!!!
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6 melissa // Apr 5, 2008 at 12:05 pm
THAT is THE MOST ridiculous thing i have EVER heard of!!
7 Vicki Zerbee // Jul 19, 2008 at 9:36 am
We are in a serious state of crisis when you hear about such a bill as this. I am seeing it months after it was posted and sure hope it is history by now.
I have spent years and years volunteering in schools for my four children.. by my own choice. While I know volunteers are needed, it can not be forced or our children will be the ones who suffer.
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