I know someone who went to a public school that had tuition, but it was a public boarding school. So, while the person had to pay a few hundred dollars a year in tuition (waived for suitable poverty) they also fed the students... throughout the whole school year. So, it works out to be far, far cheaper than just having the kid at home (assuming you're feeding your child decently and don't get magical free food).
Schools often have fees for certain things. At my school they had fees to learn how to play an instrument, you had to rent the instrument in question. We also had mandatory school supplies that could be costly. My lothario went through chemistry without the required calculator because he couldn't afford it, and had to try to work out logs with a log chart on tests that were timed based on the student using a calculator.
The person also mentions lunches though and mentions getting free lunches. So, maybe the person is confusing paying for lunch, which was usual at my schools, with paying for school.
But they really do vary. And many people do get a substandard education because they cannot afford the various things needed for a public school education. But they can always ~go~ to the school. That's guaranteed.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2005-02-03 09:08 pm (UTC)Schools often have fees for certain things. At my school they had fees to learn how to play an instrument, you had to rent the instrument in question. We also had mandatory school supplies that could be costly. My lothario went through chemistry without the required calculator because he couldn't afford it, and had to try to work out logs with a log chart on tests that were timed based on the student using a calculator.
The person also mentions lunches though and mentions getting free lunches. So, maybe the person is confusing paying for lunch, which was usual at my schools, with paying for school.
But they really do vary. And many people do get a substandard education because they cannot afford the various things needed for a public school education. But they can always ~go~ to the school. That's guaranteed.