This is the season for forms and fees day for us (few?) parents. Two kids in a top level public school system (aka a rich area, plenty of prop tax revenue) and

This is the season for forms and fees day for us (few?) parents. Two kids in a top level public school system (aka a rich area, plenty of prop tax revenue) and I still had to pay $224 for two grade school kids for one year of books and technology fees and PTO "contributions" and stuff. If you make over $100K its a rounding error, and if you make under $25K (or whatever) then absolutely everything is free covered by the state, including free lunches, the real people to pity are the remaining few middle class folks. The government will get rid of them soon enough... then what? If you read the school paperwork VERY carefully you'll find the monetary payments are technically voluntary. They're not allowed legally to not educate your kids if you don't pay until they're over 18 at the start of the school year. This probably varies greatly by state and district. One interesting side effect I've seen is massive price increases for school supply list products... Come on Target, $3.88 retail for small pack of postit notes during "school supply season"? Talk about profiteering. Damn. A twelve pack of the same product is $3.48 at Amazon with free prime delivery. Feel sad for poor folks who can't buy at Amazon, so stuff that costs me 34 cents costs them almost ten times as much retail. I saw a lot of stuff like that, $2.99 for a dozen pencils, etc. I walked thru Target with my phone out the whole time putting in the order for supplies and buying what little was cheaper, retail.