It was interesting to see how quickly a metal scrap pile at Saseenos Elementary School was cleaned up last week after complaints were received of its unsightliness.
The bin was not permitted on school property, says school district officials.
Last spring the board of education banned metal collection bins from all school district properties due to liability, and that many look at these donation sites as their dumping ground.
But whether the bin should have been on school property clouds a more serious issue at play here: why do schools need to fundraise at all for the basic necessities of education?
It used to be parents would fundraise for ancillary activities, such as a field trip to Vancouver or a day at the museum. Now those schools are forced to fundraise for school supplies and books for the library.
It’s meant goodbye to hotdog sales, hello to metal bin fundraisers.
Unfortunately, the fundraising dilemma has become more of an issue in blue collar communities like Sooke. (We don’t think you would see similar problems in West Vancouver or Oak Bay).
Our society – read: big politics – needs to get its head around the importance of funding public education.
School districts don’t get enough money, so parents, teachers and, yes, students are forced to fundraise.
Governments are terrified of anything that looks like a tax increase, but a small levy of only pennies a day could benefit more than 530,000 public school students across the province.
