Wednesday, February 5, 2003

I really haven't thought about it much because my two sons don't participate in school sports or music, even though the wife and I wish that they did.

Well, we've got a 15-year-old that's approaching that 16-year-old " I want a car" time of life. We checked yesterday into putting him into driver's ed, for safety and economic reasons, and were told that it would cost us $210. This fee would get him a whopping six hours of road time behind the wheel and 20-something hours of classroom instruction.

Now that seems out of whack to me, but that's another subject. My question is, with all the revenue from the Georgia lottery (I contribute my fair share there, too) where are all of the tax dollars going that are earmarked for education?

A guy that I work with who lives up in Cherokee County signed his middle school son up for football and had to put up $500! What the heck is going on? What happens to kids whose moms and dads don't have the $210 for driver's ed or the $500 to play middle school ball? Could someone please educate me as to what the school budget is for Fayette County and how much city, state, and federal dollars go to the school system?

I know that I'm not going to change anything with my comments and questions here, but it seems to me that something just isn't right. Does anyone else feel the same?

Chuck E. Bryant

Fayetteville