Kids must "shakedown" parents for teacher pay

This story may make your head explode.

Selections: Basic lessons of cash grab , By Michael Graham http://www.bostonherald.com

And you thought liberal public schools didn’t believe in making kids work hard. Why they’re ready to bring back indentured servitude!

That’s what a mom named Laura Wellington just found out. Her daughter came home from school with instructions to “accomplish chores around the house with the goal of being paid by me for those chores the sum of $20,” Wellington wrote on her blog. “She would then have to hand the full $20 over to the school to make up for the shortfall in their overall budget.”

Her daughter’s participation, according to the information the school sent home, was mandatory. So you’re supposed to shake mom down for $20 and give it all to the teachers - no questions asked?

You’ll be stunned to learn this happened at a school in New Jersey.

And isn’t it interesting that this school was sending its little Johnnies and Julies home to collect, not for a field trip or class pizza day, but for the actual operating budget of the school. As in teacher salaries and benefits. This puts even more pressure on the kids. After all, now it’s nice Mrs. Johnson’s paycheck at stake.

This trend in public school fundraising is on the rise. According to The Boston Globe-Democrat, private donations to Massachusetts public schools have jumped from $10 million to $27 million in the past decade. . .

It could be worse. The New York Times reports that parents in the Cupertino, Calif., school system were hit up for contributions of $375 directly (cash or credit card) to avoid any cuts. . .

Unfortunately most teachers unions are happy to throw the taxpayers overboard at the first opportunity. Stuffing the kids’ backpacks with high-pressure fundraising appeals