SalemNews.com, Salem, MA

Opinion

Discussion

The Salem News has a real-name policy for commenting. Users may sign in using the Facebook Connect tool above the comments field. Once your first comment is posted by a moderator, all future comments will post automatically. If you prefer not to use Facebook, send an e-mail with your comments user name (which must be the same as your real name), city or town, street address and daytime phone number to comments@salemnews.com. A staff member will contact you directly to confirm your identity. It may take a day or two before you can post comments. Only your user name will be public. All users are required to follow our rules for commenting, which can be found here.

comments powered by Disqus
September 3, 2010

Our View: Schools see profit in student parking

"What's next?" an online commenter wanted to know after reading Wednesday's story about the increase in parking fees at Danvers High School.

Will we see fees for dropping off students in 2012, and fees for walking to school the year after that?

Others asked why teachers shouldn't have to pay a similar fee?

To be fair, the $20 fee Danvers students will pay this year seems pretty reasonable compared to the $100 their peers at Swampscott and Masconomet high schools are charged, and a downright bargain next to Beverly's $179 charge.

But now that the door has been opened to yet another source of non-tax revenue, where will it or should it end?

Might police officers and firefighters have to pay to park at their respective headquarters? Should there be meters in the parking lots around city and town halls? Should the elderly have to pay a fee to park at the local senior center? (We'll know these are truly desperate times if the latter ever comes to pass.)

Some worry the fees will only encourage students to park on the streets in neighborhoods surrounding their schools. Perhaps in those districts where students can afford $100 or more for a parking sticker, administrators might combat this by offering valet parking for another buck or two.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Opinion

Nelson Benton Twitter Updates
Follow me on Twitter
Salem News Opinion Poll
AP Video
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium 50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought Raw Video: Soldiers Plant Flags at Arlington Police: Man Arrested in Etan Patz Disappearance NYC Protests: the Revolution Will Be Scripted Chicago U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald Resigns
Comments Tracker
Roll Call
Helium debate
Helium