Public School Isn't So Free in Minnesota

The Pioneer Press reports:

Students and parents are getting hit with sharply rising fees for bus rides, sports and other extracurricular activities at Minnesota public schools.

School fees rose 45 percent from fiscal years 2002 to 2005, according to a report released Friday by the Minnesota Department of Education. It marked the first time that statewide statistics were available on the issue.

Last year, schools charged $68 million in fees, compared with $47 million in 2002. Fifty school districts increased their fee collection by at least 100 percent between 2002 and 2005.

School officials blamed flat state funding earlier this decade for their increasing reliance on fees.

"We're seeing a gradual shift away from the state taking responsibility to fund education to pushing some of that burden onto students and parents," said Scott Croonquist, executive director of the Association of Metropolitan School Districts.

Maybe this should be the transition to private education.