Robin Hood Essay example:
Is it fair to take hard earned money from our school? My parents go to work everyday trying to raise money to support my family. A significant amount of that money goes to my school and is given for the provision of my education. Through the thieving ideas of Robin Hood, money has been taken from my school and changed our athletic program, transportation services, and educational opportunities.
Robin Hood has affected our school’s athletic program tremendously. Several things have been taken away from us that have always been apart of our school’s tradition. The first and most surprising was the loss of our letter jackets. Every since Carroll’s beginning, they have given every athlete a letter jacket. Now, each jacket has to be purchased by the individual person. Letter jackets are supposed to be a privilege earned, not bought, by a student who has worked to make varsity. Robin Hood has also made Carroll’s athletes pay to play. It costs one hundred dollars to participate in sports. I know of several people who have quit because of the outrageous costs. Athletes work hard to make the school’s reputation commendable. They should not have to take the financial burden given by the Robin Hood program.
Robin Hood has also decreased the ease of transportation to school. Almost every school in Texas provides parking for students. It’s an almost guaranteed privilege that students can attend a school and park for free. Free parking has been removed at Carroll. The school charges each car one-hundred and fifty dollars just to park. I can go to Home Depot, purchase a slab of concrete, and build my own parking space for less money. It also shocks me that they are charging students for bus fees. Any student who lives within two miles from the school must pay to ride the bus. Paying for a bumpy ride on torn seat covers isn’t fair to anyone. All of these fees have affected several people in different ways. Besides obvious financial setbacks, not being able to pay can impinge on people also. The kids then have to be dropped off, causing an interruption in the parent’s schedule. Free parking and transportation are definite needs of students, and shouldn’t be taken away by Robin Hood.
Another disadvantage to adopting Robin Hood is the decreased opportunity for an education. Thanks to Robin Hood, our tax dollars are simply handed out, and we don’t even know to whom it’s given. “Programs funded by any increased revenue will cost the same or more in later years while increasing percentages of the tax will be sent to the state under the Robin Hood formula” (). With the loss of all this money it becomes increasingly difficult not to make any educational cuts. “Some districts have offset the losses by implementing program and extracurricular activity fees, scheduling changes to reduce the number of teachers and across the board departmental cuts”(). Losing all of the teachers we have lost has caused inconveniences to multiple things. One of the more noticeable of the changes is the size of each class. Let’s take one AP English class for example. Before Robin Hood, the class would have about twenty people. After the loss of a few teachers, the class will add around five to ten other people. This not only makes it harder to learn for students, but places a tremendous strain on the teachers. Adding so many essays to critique will increase the grading time by almost two hours. The educational loss and increasing strain can easily be stopped by the removal of Robin Hood.
Our parent’s tax dollars are given in order to help fund our school. It’s illogical for an unwanted program to take that money and give it to people whom we’ve never met. The money taken from us could certainly help fund the areas of athletics, transportation, and education.