Canadian Personal Finance Blog

So I have ranted about how much money I have to fork out every September and then throughout the school year for my supposedly “free” public Education:

• School fees? To pay for books etc., usually around $70 every year (not much, but if you don’t think it’s worth worrying me about, please send me $70)
• Field trips, that I have to drive for, or pay money for, ok, yes they are optional, but do you want your kid to be the only one not going?
• Bus passes, because my kids live far enough away that they can’t walk, yet my schoolboard doesn’t think they need to pay to get them to school (next year this is going to be $174 a MONTH).
• Lunch programs, which are great, but man, they ain’t cheap either.

The CBC Ottawa has another good article about this as well, please read it and think of those folks in your community who are having financial hardships, because they are sending their kids to school? That just reads like such a crazy statement.