Pay...and then pay Some More

We pay enormous amounts of money for public education.

That money is called taxes.

Taxes on practically everything, but especially school levy taxes on home ownership.

(We also pay considerably for private education, but that's another story and another argument.)

Think then about the peculiarity of this headline:

Coquitlam considers school bus user fees

School boards in the TriCities are now suggesting that parents should have to pay to get their kids to school.

Melissa Hyndes, the chair of School District 43, which covers Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody, Belcarra and Anmore, said the school trustees have ordered a report on the proposal.

Hyndes said trustees want to know how much the district could save by implementing a user-pay system. The district currently spends about $1.5 million on school buses.

Similar proposals have been considered in the past, but have never been implemented because of opposition by parents and trustees. Any new user pay system would not go into effect September 2010, but could be a possibility for 2011.

Some parents say the free service is unfair to those who pay for their own children's transit passes.

*****

This fun little announcement comes on the same day that You Know Who has declared that he will run for a fourth term as Premier in 2013.

Hey parents in the TriCities...better start saving up to buy your kid a skateboard.