Driver's Ed Price Increase
Driver’s Ed Price Increase
BY MARY-TATE TEANEY ON OCTOBER 10, 2014
The cost of driver education has recently increased from $40 to $300+. This affects whether students will be able to take it or not. Some people can barely afford to pay $40 for a two week course. Now that it’s $300, “Driver’s Ed” might now be out of the question for many students.
“We don’t know exactly what the cost of Driver’s Ed will be, but it should be in the ballpark of $300-400,” driver’s ed instructor Mr. John Gainey said. “The House wants to keep the funding for Driver’s Ed in place but the Senate wants to take it out completely and put all the cost on the parents.” It was previously funded by a $3 fee on each license plate purchased. Driver’s Ed was free until the state reduced funding for the program and started charging students $40-50 for the course in 2011. Due to this price increase, the number of students taking the course decreased by 10 percent the next year. “There’s always going to be a scenario where someone, whether or not they they have the right education, is going to try and drive, and that can be dangerous,” freshman William Webster said. If the amount of students taking Driver’s Ed decreased by 10 percent, then how much will the number of students decrease when the price is increased by $200? “When the number of students taking Driver’s Ed starts to cut back, you’re going to have more teenagers out there driving with no permit or license, which increases our crash rate,” Gainey said. The legislature still has not come to a decision yet about this price change. It could stay the same as it is or increase to $300. The decision should be made in 2015 at the next legislature meeting. |
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