The choice

I might be more willing to buy into this "free-market-choice-will-force-schools-to-be-better" argument if I thought that parents really had a "choice" to do much other than shut up and go along with the program.

With increased transparency and equal access, perhaps we wouldn’t be convinced that information such as what we actually pay as parents above and beyond what all our taxes go to in the public schools should be kept under wraps. This doesn’t mean that I don’t understand where parents are coming from when they refuse to talk about the equipment fees, the charges for each field trip, the constant pleas from the parent-teacher organizations and the schools themselves to please contribute to their annual funds and their fundraisers for your child’s education. On one level, it doesn’t seem like so much compared to, say, sending your child to a private school, where I’ve known people who have had to borrow from their children’s grandparents to pay tuition. To kvetch about a few hundred for these extras when people are shelling out thousands seems downright ungrateful. No matter what, you have to know that if you have children, you’re gonna be paying something. Get over it and keep bringing your child to school on time before you get slapped with fines and a visit from a social worker.