The truth about funding athletics

[Murph]

I just had to mention this horrific waste of taxpayer money

Kind of like the taxpayers being stuck funding high school sports?

 

[tornado]

to some degree, yes...
I think each high school's athletic or PE department should be funded no more so than their Math or English department...I'm on your side on this one...

 

[jrish12]

I find it odd that none of the private schools (Bradley, Creighton, Duke, Notre Dame, USC) were listed when I know students receive funding from State and Federal sources to attend those schools.

Surely the privates are not on the honors system, and they don't use student fees to help fund athletics? I'm sure they are just less forthcoming about how they allocate fees.

I can see on ISU's site where they allocate funds for athletics from student fee's, BU's site is very vague on how fees are distributed.

Thats the luxury of being a private institution. If you look at any research on any college athletic program or college in general, most of the times private schools do not release any information to those studies, unless it is something that will make them look good. Its just how it is. T, just imagine what it is at the D II and D III levels of the NCAA, if only 7 D I schools were self sufficient....

The NCAA is the biggest bunch of hypocrites on the planet. They are rolling in money in Indianapolis and for them to say otherwise is just utter hogwash(id like to use a better term but it would get deleted )

I also agree with the high school sports comment. However, I dont think athletics and PE should be thrown in the same category. PE is in the curriculum, athletics are not. PE should get allocated money like math and science etc, athletics should not. Alot of schools are coming out with "pay to play" programs where if you want to play athletics you have to pay a fee to keep the team functional. Now, when I was at PND and on the baseball team, we always sold 50/50 at the football and basketball games as our fundraiser for the upcoming season. Things are just run completely different between private and public schools at any level of athletics, high school or college.

 

[tornado]

At my kids' school (not a public school) not one cent of money taken in by the school in tuition or in contributions is ever used on extracurriculars, sports, uniforms, and not even for hiring of refs, etc.
All of that is funded by gifts specifically given for that purpose, sponsorships, ticket sales, fundraisers, and each kid playing any sport is assessed an athletic fee if he wants to play.
There are also generous benefactors that even cover the fee for kids from poorer families and who also donate to refinish the gym floor, buy uniforms, cover extra costs, etc...
This is the way every school should do it, although I realize not every school has the full support of parents capable of helping....but that's partly due to the "entitlement" philosophy that pervades public schools.
Parents use the argument that since they are paying taxes why should they also pay extra for their kid to partake in what the school does?
Not all schools are this way - but some can't raise an extra dime from their families and parents who believe that just isn't their job to have to do.

 

[Murph]

I also agree with the high school sports comment. However, I dont think athletics and PE should be thrown in the same category. PE is in the curriculum, athletics are not. PE should get allocated money like math and science etc, athletics should not.

I also agree that Physical Education should always be included in a schools curriculum.

Isn't it ironic that some schools are considering doing away PE.

 

[jrish12]

I also agree that Physical Education should always be included in a schools curriculum.

Isn't it ironic that some schools are considering doing away PE.

I agree. For a little bit of my college career my major was Physical education. It is unbelievable that school boards look at cutting the one class that is actually good for a kid's life and health, not just his or her education. The stigma of "oh its just PE" makes it the scapegoat, when in actuality kids can benefit more from PE than they can from any history class.