Civil Libertarians Take on "Pay to Play" -- As In High School Football

• Posted by David on August 25, 2010
• 0 comments

By Michael Rothfeld

It’s that time of year again for high school students around the country — with all the excitement and apprehension of the first day back to the classroom, the fresh smell of new notebooks, the fees to play football and march in the band.

Wait a minute — fees to march in the band? It’s been a long time since high school and we never marched in the band, but we can’t ever remember getting an invoice from the Track & Field team.

But according to this report in the San Diego Union-Tribune, several school districts in California are taking heat from the American Civil Liberties Union over policies — which the group says are illegal under state law — that charge fees for extracurricular activities. At Poway High School for instance, there are fees of $50 to $500 to register for marching band, concert band, color guard, etc. Football players have to pay a $30 “coaching fee.” At Mt. Carmel High, students reportedly have to fork over $1691 for cheerleading.

The practice is sometimes known as “Pay to Play,” and there is more background on the California Watch blog here, along with links to additional coverage.

In a letter to the Poway school district, linked by the Union-Tribune here, ACLU official David Blair-Loy made a public records request for information about the fees, which he said were “in potential violation of the free school guarantee in the California Constitution.” The letter continued:

Article IX, section 5 of the California Constitution guarantees all children access to a free public education, and has been interpreted to include extracurricular activities offered by public schools.

John Collins, the superintendent in Poway, told the Union-Tribune that he’d spoken with principals last week “about illegal fees” and would make sure no district materials make paying to play a requirement. He said that rather than fees, the programs need “donations”:

“There is a language issue that maybe we need to be careful about,” Collins said. “It’s more about what people are saying to students. We have to make sure that everyone is on the same page.”

But without the donations, he said, the activities would “go away.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/08/24/civil-libertarians-take-on-pay-to-play-as-in-high-school-football?mod=djemlawblog_t