Stupid Ways Schools Tried To Save Money

By Editorial Staff in Facts On 19th December 2016

When budget cuts are made, schools are always on the chopping block. Though a childs education should rank higher, it usually takes a back seat when it comes to funding. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Sometimes the schools and Board of Education is required to come up with some pretty idiotic ways to cut corners and save the school district some money. Here are just of a few of the worst.

#1 Cheating Test Scores

Normally, in each state, the higher the students perform on a standardized test, the powers that be assume the school is doing an amazing job at teaching, and the school gets more money. In reality, it should be reversed, and the lower performing schools should get more money to hire better teachers. To try to get better test score, resulting in more funding, schools are resorting to cheating for the students on the tests. Schools in Baltimore and Atlanta were caught changing test scores by physically erasing the student's wrong answers and replacing it with the correct answers.

#2 Neglecting Repairs

Schools should be safe places, clean and free from danger. However, when budget cuts happen, the school maintenance is usually one of the first things to go. After teachers in Detroit posted pictures of the conditions they must work in and teach children in, the rest of the country was in shock. From mold growing on the ceiling and walls to no viable drinking fountains, no toilet paper, and not enough working toilets, it was the wake-up call to show the government that the budget cuts were going just a little too far.

#3 Bus Service

It's likely that you took a school bus at some point in your educational process. Taking that big yellow bus is paid for by the government so children have a way to get to school and learn. However, some schools are now charging students to ride the bus to and from school at a price of $500 a year per child. Some school districts are even considering doing away with the school bus service completely to save the schools money. Bad idea if you live miles from the nearest school, but not so bad if you live close to your school. But yes, before buses became a luxury, children all over the country walked to school every day. Granted, the schools were all in the neighborhoods and not spread out as they are today.

#4 Advertising To Children

A school full of teens is a guaranteed audience for companies wishing to push products that might be of interest to that age group. Schools are now placing ads on the sides of school buses and some schools are even painting signs with advertising on them and placing them at sporting events and even in the hallways. Lockers re being sold as ad space, and because the schools are hard up for cash, this is a great way for them to make some big cash.

#5 Renting School Property

Schools have resources that are paid for by the taxpayers. They have supplies, copiers, fax machines, computers, and parking spaces. A school in Texas received tens of thousands of dollars after allowing the city government to use their copy machines instead of buying their own. They also made $87,000 renting out parking spaces to nearby office workers. The spots around the football stadium were prime real estate on game nights.

#6 Student Teachers

You're thinking of a young person who is studying to become a teacher and must work in the classroom to gain credits before graduating, but these are real students, teaching class! Some schools are so understaffed and underfunded that they are allowing students to teach classes. In Detroit, an 8th-grade student was asked to step in and teach a math class, and he did so for the entire school year, without being paid a dime or being discovered. Another school in Little Rock did the same thing. They allowed 'tutors' to teach their peers for extra credit in lieu of adding new teaching staff.

#7 Rent-A-Kid

If a school is trying to save money then why not put the students to work? We all know that the schools have been forcing children to sell candy, and other fundraising things like wrapping papers and cards for many years, but now they have gone into the employment business. Athletics departments in some schools are now doing things like "Rent a Wrestler" or "Rent A Kid" to raise money for programs they can't afford any longer. Sometimes the students are sent out to do gardening, house cleaning, babysitting, and more. But the school is pocketing the money. Why is this legal?

#8 Student Extortion

When renting out a student doesn't work, the next best thing is to extort the students or their parents. By charging fees to join athletic programs, and charging more for school lunches and even for students to park on school property, the school is making a mint. Some schools have started charging kids to use a locker. In Arizona, a volleyball program charged students $250 in 'tax credits'and if they didn't pay the students would be physically punished. A New Jersey school even threatened to call child protective services on several families if the parents didn't pay for a debt of $100,000 in school lunches.

#9 Lunches

While we are talking about lunches, it seems like the cost of a school lunch has risen drastically in the last decade, While a large number of children now qualify for free lunch and sometimes breakfast, some of the food served is not fit for consumption. Schools in the Hawkins County, TN school district were put in the spotlight after they served students meat that had been in a freezer for 8 years. Cafeteria workers were instructed to pour gravy over it to give it a better taste. Students are now posting their disgusting lunches on social media regularly while touting the expensive price that came along with it.

#10 Nightclub

By day, the Harambee Institute Of Science & Technology charter school in Philadelphia, PA, was a pretty good school Monday through Friday. But On Friday and Saturday nights the school cafeteria was transformed into a risque nightclub called "Club Damani". While it was unorthodox, the club raked in loads of money for the school. They got into some hot water, however, since it is illegal to sell alcohol near a school, let alone inside it. Not only that, they didn't even have a liquor license. It is now under new management and does not serve booze but is still making money for the school.

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