Imagine, if you will, a state sponsored university. Which state isn't important, only that the university is funded with money from the state coffers. Now imagine that the university charged one rate for women students, and a cheaper rate for men. People would be outraged at the disparity! Why should women be charged more for an education than men?*
Today I received an email from my son's school district informing me of some classes being provided by the Davis School District Parent Information Resource Center. Through the spring and summer, nine different classes will be provided for men, women and children. All of the classes are free, unless, of course, you are over the age of 17 years and have XY chromosomes.
That's right, the two classes that are for men ("Tools To Effective Fathering" and "Anger Management") cost money. In the case of "Tools To Effective Fathering," I can maybe see why they charge for that one. There aren't corresponding "Tools To Effective Mothering" or "Tools To Effective Childing" classes, so maybe that one is different enough that they have to charge for it. That being said, men are such idiots and poor at parenting (according to some parts of society, anyway) that you'd think they'd want to make that class free so that we poor men could be less lousy parents.
Regardless, the one that really gets me is "Anger Management". There are four classes with that title. Two are for children of various ages, one is for women, and the other for men. The ones for women and children are listed as "No Charge". The one for men is listed as "Call for details"! WHY?!? Are the classes being taught at a singles bar?
I can understand why children wouldn't be charged, as it is a school district thing and the education of children is already being paid for by our tax dollars. But why would women get a free pass on the anger management class when men have to pay? Are women anger free? That can't be the case since they have an anger management class. Or maybe their class is to teach them how to manage the anger of the men they know.
If that isn't frustrating enough, what really ticks me off is that the school district would be affiliated with providing these classes at all after this last legislative session. The Davis district may not be hurting as bad as some of the other school districts in Utah after the spending cuts, but they are making changes due to the decreased budgets they are facing. And yet they have money to provide and/or support free optional classes to the community? Maybe they should be more focused on their charge to educate the children of the district and less concerned with extraneous classes, no matter how well intentioned they might be.
If you'd like to see it, here is a link to the copy I received via email: DSD PIRC Spring & Summer Class Schedule 2010.
*The answer is that women are slow and hard to teach, so it takes more effort, thus it costs more.**
**JUST KIDDING!
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