Should we eliminate high school sports for budget?

David wrote:


How crude. And unneeded. We simply stared them down. They recognized our innate intellectual superiority and slunk away

sports got a lot more expensive when the law mandated equal time for girls. Nobody wanted to cut boys sports so what we did is add girl sports. My boy does Football and track, my girl does bowling and golf. To me bowling and golf are not sports, but because of the law cutting them would be a problem, because they are popular with the girls, they must stay. The school needs to offer a lot of useless girl sports to balance out the popularity and expense of boys football.

Ideally I would offer Football and basketball to the boys, for the girls volleyball and basketball, and nothing else. I figure this would cut the cost in half, and be fair to the sexes, though the law does not agree on the fairness part because the football teams are so big.

Sports are very important to students, sometimes the only reason a student remains involved. It is more than getting exercise, but also the fellowship and the teamwork they learn. The memories they build to last a lifetime. I don't understand why schools are unable to get enough funding, while we are able to spend trillions at the drop of a hat on military and pork barrel issues.

Take my word for it - or don't, but golfing skill can be very important in later life.

I dont think that funding is the problem, it is spending that is the problem
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/04/AR2008040402921.html

interesting piece from CATO about cost
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzvKyfV3JtE

I think high school sports are extremely important in today's world, mostly because kids no longer spend long afternoons roaming around town, visiting each other's homes, building tree houses in the wooded areas, or creating their own sand lots for playing sports. They can't even use school basketball courts. Mostly because of the freaks lurking around for God knows what reason.

Sports and music were both cancelled in Michigan during the 80's recession where I was covering the school boards as a reporter. In some cases the parents got together to raise funds for football, some other sports.

Only because I've never heard of one before, but yes, the rifle team would also be a keeper.

I think the Wealth Redistribution Team is too useful to cut.

I started to hiss, but I have to think about this subject some more.
I'll give a toss at it as a first go.. even I will have arguments to my points:

~~ Academics is key. Now there's a sentence to avoid, already I'm in trouble, academics are key? That doesn't sound right either.

~ My schooling was strict, there were no snack stops. (Eat your breakfast - I know this sounds cold, but provide, somehow, breakfast for those unable to have it at home)
~ don't flutter up the school day with announcements of more than a few minutes.
~ I consider music and art part of academics and want them taught to all. I didn't have art even as a concept in high school, wish now I'd had a clue.
~ teach basic finance as mandatory, even if it is for relatively few hours, but you need to pass it to graduate.
~ I'm so odd I'd even give a basic construction class to all, including high end college preps. Same as basic finance, it opens windows to how the whole world is built. Math, physics, engineering could open up as interesting to those initially daunted by all that.

I'm sorry, even to myself - I think a really good school day would be full enough without sports, and I say that with my catholic grammar school team in the running for all city, or something like that, re chicago, and my university winning a national NCAA basketball title.

I think basic exercise physiology should be taught in high school - exercise and self connection can come from dance or solitary running or gliding through water, exploring the world, or, team sports. Engage students and they will act it out in time.

I know students need exercise and not to hang out at the corner store, knives flashing. I think that the rest of society needs to organize how that happens past the schools. Except that I get great teams are key to money re universities. Oy.

I admit speaking like a dinosaur here, and may even jump sides. However, I'd rather have all the kids who don't make the minors, never mind the majors, get an education in the hours they are forced to stay in school.

Yeah, OK, if thay hold the targets for the Rifle Team.

let's use Brighton HS Michigan as an example:

it has 2400 students
http://www.publicschoolreview.com/school_ov/school_id/39554

it spends $570,000 on sports
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps/2009-09-02-budget_sports_cuts_N.htm

for a total of $240 per student, in a district that spends according to them $9,000 per student, which we know from Cato is almost certainly low ball. This gets us to sports costing 2.5% of the budget, which considering that younger kids in the district do not play sports is probably higher than the real number.

And schools can't make sports happen??

They are on the same team... Wealth Redistribution is easier to do when you have rifles.

Yeah, the Rifle Team is easier to do, when thay have the Wealth Redistributers to shoot at.

No, no. The rifle team ARE the redistributers. Rich kids are sissys... they probably won't even waste much ammo.

I guess I'm rad, for teaching of basic exercise. Wish I'd learned that, took me to the jogging era to get a clue on my own. But, the whole sports scenario, no.

I seem to be hanging out here against high school sports. I'm not against sport, but I am interested in making high school as good as it can be, for all, academically.

Or maybe the chicken and the egg of it was the other way round. Maybe coaches just don't want drunkards and junkies on their teams. The correlation in the data would seem to be the same.

or maybe drunkards and junkies can't execute athletically??!!

YES! Cut the sports.

Let these kids parents pay for their own damn kids sports. When I was a kid nobody bought me my skateboards and I had to pay for the tickets on top of that.

Why do I have to pay for some goofy punks to run around in the grass in matching outfits chasing a ball.

PUT THESE LITTLE ASSHOLE TO WORK!

Get them ready for a real American future...HARD LABOR under my thumb.