Letter to editor: “Stop jeopardizing California’s future”

This letter is in response to Mr. Jim Negri’s letter, “Athletes Asked to Donate.” Negri explains that athletes were not asked to pay, but only asked to give a suggested donation for the sports program. However, what is the actual difference between paying and donating? Is there not a much different incentive for each one? When you are asked to pay for something, you are typically doing it for yourself and getting a reward out of it. When you donate to a cause, it’s out of the goodness of your heart and you get the reward of feeling like you helped something or someone else in need.

In the case of athletics at our high school, it is quite close to mandatory that you “donate” to play your sport. Although it is not plainly stated, it is certainly implied by coaches and other teammates because they know that sports are not funded, and depend on donations. Is it fair for a kid to feel not as valuable on a team because they didn’t or couldn’t donate? Is it fair that their teammates might look down on them for not paying? Even though it is only a recommended donation, it still pressures people a lot into it, and excludes those who truly can’t play. This may not technically be breaking the law, but indirectly it still is.

Another topic Negri touched on in his letter was the idea that academics comes before athletics on the list of things to not cut. Yes, a good education is what our state aims for in regards to schools, but what if sports are the only thing keeping certain students coming to school? There are students who enjoy classes because of the academics, but more often than not, students are there to keep up their grades so they can stay on the sports team they play on. Is it fair to say academics ranks higher in importance than athletics? It seems more that athletics compliments academia and is equally as important. Without sports, the dropout rate at CVHS would surely be higher because many of our athletes would lose their motivation to stay in school. We need both academics and athletics to keep students at school, and to make it an enjoyable experience overall.

If we look at budget cuts in a different way, we can see that it’s not our job to fundraise or come up with our own money for sports or any part of public school. As many people have said, “Education is a right, not a privilege,” and every student, from CVHS and from all over California, is entitled to that right. In times of crisis, we must see what is really important. Let’s stop jeopardizing California’s future by making cuts to schools, and instead improve them by getting the government to do what’s right.

Emma Silver, sophomore