For those tracking K-12 education references at the Republican National Convention, first lady hopeful Ann Romney made a reference to pay-to-play school sports fees in her address Tuesday night.
“We don’t want easy,” Mrs. Romney said. “But these last few years have been harder than they needed to be. It’s all the little things—that price at the pump you just can’t believe, the grocery bills that just get bigger, all those things that used to be free, like school sports, are now one more bill to pay. It’s all the little things that pile up to become big things.”
In recent years, as school budgets have been slashed, a number of districts have started charging participation fees for student-athletes to keep their sports programs afloat. While certain districts have found creative ways around implementing the pay-to-play fees—including one Mich. district that was able to get a professional football player to cover the fees—others haven’t been so lucky.
As Bob Cook of