"Schools squeezed by gas prices; Many US students will return to class and find big changes" by Associated Press | August 19, 2008
WASHINGTON - Hard times and higher fuel prices will follow kids back to school this fall. Children will walk farther to the bus stop, pay more for lunch, study from old textbooks, and wear last year's clothes. Field trips? Forget about it.
This year, it could cost nearly twice as much to fuel school buses. At the same time, costs for air conditioning and heating, cafeteria food, and classroom supplies are mounting. And parents have their own tanks to fill. The extra costs present a tricky math problem: Where can schools subtract to keep costs under control?
Trillions for wars, billions for banks and Israel, and I'm tired of saying it.
This fucking government DOESN'T EVEN CARE about the kids, either!!!!
In rural Minnesota, one district is skipping classes every Monday to save fuel.
I'll bet the kids let out a cheer, huh? There are silver linings, I guess.
On the other days, classes will be about 10 minutes longer.
Oh, never mind.
The other option for the Maccray district was to start cutting electives. A shorter week will save at least $65,000 in fuel, superintendent Greg Schmidt said. Some parents will need to find day care on Mondays. But it's a small district, with 700 students, and many parents are self-employed with jobs in farming or construction.
Yeah, who cares if parents and their families are disrupted.
After all, the state is working for you, right?
Nationwide, at least 14 other districts are switching to four-day weeks, and dozens more are considering it, according to a recent survey by the American Association of School Administrators. About 100 districts made the switch years ago, in many cases because of the 1970s oil crisis.
Parents have been cutting back all summer. For school clothes, Heidi McLean shopped at outlets and the Marshalls discount chain for her son and daughter, high school students in Eureka, Calif. "But this year, I'm forcing the kids to reuse their backpacks," McLean said.
Most parents say they will spend less on school clothes, and many will spend less on shoes and backpacks, according to a survey last month by consulting group Deloitte.
So this was a lie, then? Sigh!
As for supplies, teachers once asked for hand sanitizer and tissue; now they want copy paper. Lenelle Cruse, the state PTA president in Florida, said last year's budget was so tight, a Jacksonville school actually had a toilet paper drive.
Hey, save more money; either don't wipe or use your hands, kids!
In Paw Paw, Mich., schools started asking parents to drive to athletic trips on weekends. Nearly half of the schools in the administrators' survey said they are curtailing field trips.
In Jacksonville, school lunch prices will rise from $1.45 to $2 for secondary schools. The cost of food has zoomed, especially for lunch-tray staples like milk.
Districts are trying hard to squeeze every drop of savings from buses and through energy conservation to avoid more drastic cuts in sports, activities, or even classes.
Wouldn't have to do that if they went into the war profiteering business!
Schools are also cutting staff. In Montgomery County, Md., and elsewhere, they are holding off on ordering new textbooks."
So how much longer you gonna put up with this shit, Amurka?
If you don't care about yourselves, WHAT ABOUT YOUR KIDS?
