Rich kids should pay fees to attend public schools.

[Liberty Belle]

48. No, public school should stay free for everyone.

Who decides who is "rich" enough to have to pay?

I'm sick of being screwed as a middle or at times, upper middle income earner based solely on hubby's income. It does not take into account the high cost of living in San Diego, one of the most expensive cities in the nation for housing, utility costs, some taxes, etc. Or other costs you may have such as putting kids through college, caring for an elderly relative with dementia, unexpected car or home repairs, etc. Should the kids do without school if your car needs a new transmission or has happened to us this year, a sewer pipe under our steep driveway boost and cost us tens of thousands to repair everything? Should one have to take out a second mortgage to put junior through K-12 school?

Worst of all is our healthcare. Hubby just got a new job that pays slightly less; he observed unethical actions at his old company and left. This week we learned the healthcare policy at the new firm will cost $1,000 EACH - $2,000 total, for hubby and me. With deductibles that already make it unaffordable to access much healthcare. How are we supposed to afford $2,000 a MONTH and that's for a crummy HMO where if you don't like the doctors or referrals take six months to a specialist you're stuck, at least for a while. WE are in our 60s, too young for Medicare yet. We did price Obamacare and other companies, but it's no better. This is obscene and should not be happening in America.

We are not rich. We are now spending more than we make every month because of the healthcare and our savings is being tapped out. Our kids are grown, but if we had children of school age I would not that we have paid our taxes for many years, probably more than many others who are poor, and our children should be entitled to a free public education too. It's part of the promise of why we paid taxes diligently and never tried to cheat or claim gray areas.

Would you say that only poor people can drive on roads free and everyone else must pay a toll? Or that firefighters should only respond to poor people's house fires because middle class and rich folks should pay for private firefighters? That's a very dangerous road to go down.

Of course if someone wants to go to a private school they should pay for that. I oppose public "charters" that suck money out of the public school system except in rare cases.