A lawsuit over school supplies? Really?

As a public school parent, I feel no joy at the news this case is being settled

A class-action lawsuit filed by Daisye Marcil, a Saguenay mother of two children, against 68 of Quebec’s 72 school boards, is being settled out of court. Eligible parents are expected to receive something in the neighbourhood of $150 per child.

The lawsuit, launched on behalf of the parents of 900,000 Quebec students, contends that parents who send their children to public schools should not have to pay additional fees for things like field trips, school supplies, tissue, photocopying, tennis balls and calculators. The lawsuit claims that public instruction is supposed to be free of charge.

That anyone launched a class-action lawsuit over this issue just boggles my mind. While these items may seem mundane to some, they contribute to the overall quality of education our children receive, and parents should not begrudge such contributions.

Both of my children are a part of the public school system. I see those additional things as adding quality to their education and exposing them to experiences that I might not have the time or wherewithal to provide on my own.

Why would anyone want to take money out of the hands of the school system and the instructors working so hard to educate our children? We send our children to school for the majority of their waking hours. We do so with the hope and anticipation that they will receive an education.

Why would anyone want to take money out of the hands of the school system?

As a society, we need to focus more on what value we can add to our children’s education. If sending three boxes of tissue paper to my child’s school will ensure that no child in their class has to blow their nose using the hard, brown paper used to dry their hands in the bathroom, then I am perfectly fine with that. If paying for the cost of photocopies will help teachers better manage the limited funds they have to teach our children, then so be it.

I am not a teacher. I am a parent, but I am also invested in my child’s future enough to know that quality tools will serve them better in life. As a child of immigrants, I was sent to school with the most inexpensive supplies; my parents did not have the money to opt for the finer things and, for that matter, didn’t see the difference between one binder and another. We made do.

Some of my dearest friends are educators, and so I understand that writing is a tedious enough task to start with, but when a pencil breaks every few lines, it is an added frustration, and one more thing that a teacher has to help them with during time that could have been spent on learning. If fees help a teacher buy sturdier ones to distribute, then that helps everyone.

And anyway, what happened to investing in our children’s futures? If a parent cannot afford to purchase these additional school supplies, schools often are understanding and are willing to spread out payment or agree to an exemption. It is also helpful that the Quebec government has begun paying parents $100 a year, per student, to help with these fees.

The lawsuit covers a period of several years, so settlement is expected to amount to about $28 per student, per year.

To institute proceedings for such a minuscule amount per child is ludicrous and amounts to losing sight of the forest for the trees.

If we want better public education for our children, we should start by not suing those tasked with the job of educating them over tools that ultimately benefit the students.

Benjamin Franklin said that “an investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Let’s start with that.

Fariha Naqvi-Mohamed is the founder and editor in chief of CanadianMomEh.com, a lifestyle blog. twitter.com/canadianmomeh