Blind Justice

I never gave much of a thought to the ACLU until recently. I know that the mention of their name brings out heated debates - after all, they are known to defend people's rights to an extent that makes no sense to a lot of people. I mean, I understand the whole freedom of speech issue and everything, and I know that the ACLU is staffed with well-meaning people would put their very lives on the line to defend the essence of what it means to live in a free country - I just wonder how it feels to be an ACLU lawyer who gets a hand shake and a pat on the back from America's proudest bigot.

Recently, an issue came up that hit close to home... maybe too close. As in "Oh shit - I'd better look at what I have on my school web site and do some Olympic-class back peddling!" See, the ACLU has taken to monitoring school districts in California, and making a full charge at those that apply fees for various extra-curricular programs such as sports, cheer and the arts. Yup... we're talking law suits across multiple districts simultaneously. Many schools threw up the white flag immediately, and knee-jerked reimbursements back to their students without so much as a whimper. I also heard that one school band program was directed to repay 15 years worth of band fees. Yeah.

Now, here is where I have to stop and say that the well-intentioned crusade of the ACLU on behalf of the citizens of the city of Los Angeles (who allegedly got the ACLU's attention in this matter) could spell doom for a lot of school programs. Simply put - art is expensive. You have supplies, equipment, repair, specialized clothing, travel expenses.... this stuff doesn't just fall into our laps from the powers-that-be. One of my colleagues put it best: "It's a sad thing, but the quality of a school music program comes down to its budget." So where does this money come from if not from the participating families? It's not the ACLU's job to worry about that.

We're living in a state that's engaged in a full financial melt-down, lots of crucial government-funded programs are already being cut or scaled back, teachers are losing their fucking jobs, the ones who aren't are overworked and under-supported... and the ACLU has the balls to tell everyone that it's unfair to ask families to pay a fee so that Suzie can play clarinet. If they manage to succeed in throwing their collective weight to the point of making every school too paranoid to so much as ask the kids to even bring a pencil, they'll effectively create a situation where school districts will have no choice but to remove their extra curricular programs, simply because they can't afford them... and trust me, the coaches and art teachers are already afraid of that outcome without the benefit of the ACLU speeding it along. It's not what anyone really wants - but in the eyes of the ACLU, it's better than asking students and families for a contribution.

The thing that gets me is that no one, and I mean no one in charge of any public school activity would deny a student on the basis of financial difficulty. We all know the law - and most of us would have accommodated a student/family in need regardless. But see, people don't even want schools to ask for the money - probably because it's too embarrassing for people to admit that they can't provide for their child's extra-curricular aspirations. I mean, yeah, that's a tough situation but shit - why don't we just tell the grocery stores to give away free food to everyone because some people are too embarrassed to stand in line with food stamps.

The people making most of the noise in this matter, ie. the people who don't want to have to pay for school band programs, are under the assumption that they are entitled to all the trappings, including flashy uniforms and exciting performance trips at no cost. What they don't understand is that the state doesn't guarantee any of that. What the state guarantees is instruction in music, as outlined by the California framework and content standards for the fine and performing arts. You can read it if you like... it doesn't say anything about marching band, field show competitions, parades, flashy uniforms, tuxedos, concert dresses - all the trimmings that make music programs appealing to kids in the first place. The framework tells you what the kids should be learning, and what they should be able to accomplish (musically) from kindergarten through high school - and most of that can be done with a modest amount of funding.

The problem is, a lot of schools don't have even a modest amount of funding for their music programs, leaving to the band students and families to scramble for the money in order to get the basic needs, let alone the big flashy marching band that everyone wants to see at the football games. To that end, the terms 'band' and 'fund-raising' have become kind of synonymous. But here's the funny part - It's also illegal to require kids and families to fund-raise. So the bottom line is: We can't charge fee's and we can't require people to fund-raise. According to the letter of the law, public school is supposed to be free - and any program hosted by any California school has to be accessible to any student living in California at no cost. Well, ladies and gentlemen, in this case, the old saying rings as true as ever - "You get what you pay for." And if you can't give it to everyone for free, then no one should get it at all.