This is not meant to berate parents and children for being able to buy or help sell these goods. It's just that these fund-raisers increasingly allow voters and officials to get by with failing to fund schools as they should. Children attending neighborhood schools in less-affluent areas don't get the microscopes, art supplies, athletic equipment, reference books and all the things that seem small, but when added up, aren't. This doesn't make for a level playing field in education. Fund-raising has its critics for other reasons.
Safety is the most important issue.
Cumberland County schools tightened their fund-raising policies after a student selling items for her school was killed while trying to cross a busy highway. Just this week, a boy in New Jersey was slain while selling merchandise for a PTA group. Of less concern is that businesses are finding school fund-raisers a nuisance. Co-workers foisting goods upon one another can be more than just an annoyance if supervisors sell merchandise to workers they evaluate. It's a disgrace when taxpayers in the richest nation in the world allow youngsters to be turned into peddlers.