Voluntary contribution of £120 for school

[Voiceofreason92]

My son’s school have always asked for a voluntary contribution of £35 per year per child. This year they have decided to up it to £60 per child. I have two children. In the past it’s never been clear what that £35 is going on so have always reluctantly contributed. This year they have asked for money for revamping the year 1 toilets, building a ‘summer house’ style cabin as an intervention room and to support their staffing structure.

since September, it’s been in the newsletter every week saying they still don’t have 100% of families contributing and they would really like it. (Only 50% have) This week a letter came home in my kid’s book bag from the head teacher saying that they noticed I havent paid my £120 contribution and they really think it’s time I contributed for my boys.
AIBU unreasonable for not contributing out of principle that I feel hounded and it’s meant to be voluntary.
(this is a state primary school not a private one)

One issue is that's it's often the same parents who seem to pay, and not necessarily those who can easily afford it.

Some people prioritise their dcs education, whilst others prioritise their social life, smoking, drinking, buying stuff, etc.

I feel that this could lead towards resentment.

Maybe setting it at £1/week per child, paid on a Monday, would mean that everyone would contribute?

I would have no issue making that amount compulsory, as most people easily waste that amount in a week on unnecessary stuff. Those genuinely on the breadline, would be able to either opt out, or pay less (eg £1/family rather than per child).

I'm so sorry for all the dc having to have armed guards at their schools. I can't imagine the worry and stress it must cause, for c the dc as well as the adults. I had thought we'd be better and do better by now 💐

@Voiceofreason92 if you were happy to pay the £35, why not just continue to do that and say that that's all you are able to afford/ want to contribute? I'm sure the school would rather something than nothing.

This was 30 years ago and you assume people have 1 child. Many have 2, 3 or more.

Anyway I was really responding to the OP being asked for £120 in one go.

Some families don't have money for basic food, let alone takeaway coffee. If that's not your experience, then lucky you.

No, education is just not seen as a necessary cost in the UK. Unlike when someone is stretching for that rent or mortgage for "that" house, or for "that" lease on "that" car (another absurd waste of cash) education is seen as something that should be "free" even though it's not free because as i said upthread the tax alone to pay for one child in the state system is over £6,000 which is not what most people pay in tax. And as you point out, have more than one kid and it's much more.

That's fine. Just don't resent the fact that I do pay for my kids, not only through the tax system but also the fees for their public school, which means it's no surprise that their education will be better and more rounded. You personally put more in. You then get more out.

I thought part of the positives of the VAT on independent schools was that those parents who removed students from private would force up standards in state. Yet all of you saying you could afford it but won’t pay aren’t getting stuck in? I’ve always been pleased to contribute to my children’s education and their educational establishment. It’s about making their environment better. Why does the school need a summer house? Why not? Won’t better provision for students requiring intervention and a better staffing structure also benefit your children?

I’m not talking to people who are choosing between food/rent/heating/ I’m specifically directing this to those saying they could afford but ‘why should they’.

@Ohplesandbanonos Because the only reason for the VAT on school fees is because of resentment of the private system and a wish to destroy it.

And as I have said before the stupid thing about it is that the schools like the one we use that are seen as the most elite (which those who agree with this policy want to destroy the most) won't be moved as we do just can just carry on putting our hands in our pockets. We have lost a couple of students that's all. It won't be us though. I am already putting in place plans for any grandchildren of mine to be afforded the same privileges.

Human nature being as it is though, I am going to be increasingly resentful of bursaries for kids who can't afford the fees and get the same privilege. Why should I pay through the nose for a system people loathe until they can access it themselves....

@AvenueoftreesI think you’ve misunderstood my viewpoint, apologies if I’ve not been clear. I strongly disagree with the VAT on school fees - it’s a policy of envy only and only serves to increase the gap between the elite and the rest. The main effect of the VAT from what I can see locally is increased pressure on class sizes, huge increases in numbers applying for state grammar schools and many fewer bursaries available for bright students from less well off families. Labour has also not produced the promised increase in numbers of teachers or even people studying to be teachers.

my point was for state school parents - if you can afford a contribution - why do you resent being asked when one of the points raised when VAT was touted was that parents who removed their kids from private to public would help drive up standards. Why isn’t it the job of the many already using the state provision?

It's all relative. That would have been a lot of money to me in the '90s. I can't recall my wage then, but in the late '80s, my take-home pay was about £80 a week.

@SaturdayNext

The problem is - as the poster has stated - Jewish kids can often be unsafe and on the receiving end of hatred at non-Jewish schools.

The additional expenditure is presumably worth it to ensure that the children are free from bigotry.

@SteelMaiden

It's a Jewish school and the reason they ask for £1600 is so they can fund security (likely armed) to protect the kids from anti-Semitic scum.

@Ohplesandbanonos I get that. I was building on your arguments for those that don’t get the stupidity

MY principle would be that I shouldn't be hounded for a voluntary contribution. I don't know what OP's circumstances are, but some people might be ok with giving £35 but cannot afford to pay £60.

“Dear Headteacher,

Please will you confirm whether the £60 is a voluntary contribution, or a mandatory one. And if it is, as previously stated by the school, voluntary, please will you explain why it is acceptable for you to harass parents who have not contributed. Maybe you should look up the meaning of the word voluntary in the dictionary.

Yours,
@Voiceofreason92“

How do you know who buys 'junk' for teachers? How do you know that everyone could afford to contribute? I get fed up of people saying it's 'only' £5, or £60, or the price of a coffee etc. For some people, even a small amount is the difference between living within their means or not being able to put the heating on. If we paid more in taxes (and I think those who earn enough should) then maybe the education system would be better funded.

And as I’ve previously stated if the OP (or you) responded to the request when it was first mentioned, either to say that they weren’t going to contribute this year or that the fee for one child is all that is affordable then the requests that follow can be ignored as its been dealt with. The school doesn’t want to be repeatedly requesting this money, if parents didn’t forget/ignore the request they wouldn’t put out multiple pleas.

Asking for a voluntary contribution doesn't oblige someone to send a reply. Not contributing and not responding should be enough.

Parents have been known to forget to do things sometimes. Return a permission slip, put the book in the bookbag, remember the PE kit. A reminder isn’t unreasonable. Repeatedly, I suppose it depends on how successful the chasers are for the school coffers.
Personally if I had always paid and had decided not to pay this year I would let the school know. You wouldn’t, not a big deal.

Standard for state high schools and grammar schools in Northern Ireland

(Usally the people who can afford it are the ones that have to be chased to pay)

20 years ago - school asking for ‘voluntary’ contribution of £50 per child.

didn’t have it - so I ignored the letters and reminders. they were overwhelmingly shit with my special needs children and frankly I didn’t want to give them a penny (not that I had it anyway)

next school were so good with my kids and supported them do well - I literally would have given them a kidney had they asked for one - but they never asked for ‘voluntary contributions’

both had bake sales and fairs etc and I did all I could to contribute and support the second school fundraising - as they did so much for my children - but the 1st school got nothing as they did nothing but damage my child rather than educate and support them.

voluntary means voluntary - you give to the things that matter to you and that you want to - never feel obligated to ‘pay’ these fees if you don’t want to.

Yeah but I don't buy coffee takeaways for that very reason!! Why waste £10 when I can make my own coffee and put it in a travel cup and put the £10 towards shoes for my child for the year?! You are clearly not understanding how tight money is for some people!...and even if it wasn't, that's not the point. Its the principle of it!

@EvieBB and you clearly don’t understand the actual cost for education

and you don't understand that education should be free unless you choose to go private!!!

And I'm surprised by how little you understand how some people struggle financially.
Not everyone can afford even a minimal contribution....even if they have worked all their lives....
There's no reason why there shouldn't be sufficient money in pot for education. We pay taxes so that education is free unless we choose to go private.

@EvieBB But it's not "free". Nothing is "free". It is just "free at the point of use" which is a different thing altogether and anyone who doesn't recognise that is deluded. Just like anyone who says they cover it by tax is deluded.

Clearly it would be amazing if everything was just automatically covered but it's not because the cost of education in the UK for one child is the equiv of all the tax generated by someone earning £35,000 (or £6,280 at a minimum). Therefore, you have to come back to the premise of do you want an education you are pleased to have and do you think it's in the best interest of your child to pay in this instance the equivalent of just under 2% of the cost of that education. Or not.

The fact is that we shouldn't need to as we are ALREADY paying our taxes so there should be sufficient money in the pot... especially for those of us who have always worked and never claimed benefits. If greedy corporations paid their fair share there wouldn't be a need to ask the poorest of us to pay even more. It stinks.

@EvieBB But there isn't enough. And if you are "the poorest of us" you aren't paying anything close to what it costs for your children's education and that's with people like me paying tax and not taking up the places for our kids because we do chose to go private, which therefore frees up money for your child or children.

And those greedy corporations pay tax. I run a business and the pressure on businesses is huge. And they provide the jobs for you to earn the money you do. Not the state. The state just spends the tax brought in. And if you tax those businesses into the ground people like me won't bother. We'll just decide that it's not worth the hassle and things will fall apart.

What should actually happen is that there should a flat rate for everyone with no tax breaks cos any pension relief you get? Tax break. Any money you have in an ISA? Tax break.

I am as it goes an ISA millionaire. The government will never touch that money or the dividends on it which is patently absurd. They should tax everything at about 15% and not give any "breaks" cos then people will feel they aren't being squeezed for the money they put themselves out for, but they would actually get more. 15% of £1.5m is £22,500. 0% of £1.5m is nothing. However, because they love fiddling about the edges so they aren't held accountable when they just run out of other people's money cos they can always tinker and take more we are in this utter doom loop.