In America do you have to pay to go to High School?

[Northerner]

Help me settle a 'debate' with my dh. After watching hoop dreams, where a young boy can't start at a new school because his parents still owe money at the last school, my dh is adamant that you have to pay towards education in the US. I think he must be wrong as surely there will be masses of people who can't afford to. BTW the school is question is definatley not private - it's in a very run down area.

Who's right me or dh?

TIA

I'm quite sure that you don't have to pay. Sometimes when students use textbooks and don't return them they have to pay replacements - maybe that's it? Hmmmm...

There are "school district" taxes in America - as well as all the other kinds - I always assumed those go direct to the local schools. Maybe they owed taxes?

What are these district taxes then?

People pay national (income) tax, and local tax, and school district tax - I think they have school district elections too, like local elections, there is a local superintendent of schools or something? We lived there for a bit, so I heard about it, but never really understood. We need an American to explain!

This might help (have only glanced at it).

Thanks Jan.

Still don't fully understand it though. Surely there are people who can't afford to pay these taxes?

It is a form of income tax, so presumably it's graduated and people on low incomes and welfare wouldn't have to pay, like here. There is (limited) free medical care for really poor people, there must be free education too. (Mustn't there?)

I'm American and went to high school there. You absolutely do NOT have to pay to go to school. The way the system is funded differs from state to state. Where I lived, the schools were funded partly from local (city or town) property taxes and partly from state income taxes.

Northerner, I think your husband must have misunderstood what happened in the film. You're absolutely right that there would be masses of people who couldn't afford to pay for their children to go to school. As in the UK, education is compulsory until the age of 16.

Well that's what I though Sparks, but dh even went to get the video from the garage and found the relevant bit for me to watch. The parents are chatting with the financial controller of the new school who is saying that the old school won't release papers or something a they owe $1800. It's got me baffled.

Then it must be a private school. I don't think it the fact the school is in a run down area means it can't be private. Maybe the school has been there for ages and the neighbourhood changed - used to be a leafy suburb in the 1920s when it was built, started to decline into a ghetto from the 1950s onwards. I haven't seen Hoop Dreams, so I can't really say, but it's certainly a possibility.

I saw Hoop Dreams in the mid 90's when it came out and just don't remember that part. But I did a google search (I'm so sad!) and found this plot summary which uses the phrase "elite school" which suggests a private school. The characters would have gotten a scholarship or at the very least a partial scholarshipand if it were partial, it would explain owing $1800 which is a hell of a lot less than the full cost of attending a private school for a year, but obviously very substantial to a low income family. I'm inclined to think that's the explanation because, as sparks said, "public" school is indeed free in the US. But sadly, an inner city Chicago public school is likely to be pretty craphence the effort made to get these 2 talented players into a school that could cultivate their talent.

Here's an even better explanation . Read all the way down. It is a private school called St. Jospeh's, a sort of hothouse for basketball talent. The boys are offered nearly full scholarships, but their parents still had to pay a small amount.

Hmmmm. For some reason you can't read the article once I paste it into a link. But it was a very interesting article which explained the school/payment situation. It also said that St. Joseph's later sued the filmmakers for (1) presenting them in such a bad light and (2) not sticking to the original agreement that the film would not be used for commercial purposes, but only for public television. If you want to see the full article google "Isaiah Thomas" and "St. Joseph's" and click onto the Sun article that comes up.

Ebert review

It worked in preview...

kat, I couldn't find your Sun piece but did find this from the Daily Beacon?

Janh, the Sun piece=the Ebert review. Should have clarified I meant Chicago Sun Times. Don't know how you got it to work, but thanks!

Thanks Jan.

I was right I was right I was right I was right I was right!

Can't wait to prove my ds wrong. he was soooo adamant.

Will wath the film in it's entirety now, sounds good.

And thansk expatkat!

You do not have to pay to go to high school in the US. This is one of the few things consistent in every state.

Schools in the US are usually primarily financed from property taxes, not income taxes. If you're too poor to own property, the landlord pays for the schools (a source of great friction as in many areas there is little to no overlap between the people paying property tax and the people sending children to school). In many school districts, you have no choice as to which school you go to; you go to the one the school district says you go to. You don't pay for books, unless you lose the school's copy, and you don't pay for transport to and from school. If you are short enough on money, you don't pay for school lunch (and breakfast may be provided as well, and if the school has more than 75% funded students, lunch and breakfast may be free for everybody).