This is an update to my OP. I apologize for its length, but sincerely hope that those of you who followed this threat will read it. Thanks for noticing.
OK, I made a post a long time ago when I was very frustrated because my HS debate team got next to no money to go to tournaments. I was very pleased with the level of support that I received, but there were a number of posts that I feel represented points of view that need to be addressed. What the posters said was often very convincing, but I feel that things should be cleared up.
Lincoln - Douglas debate is not something that should be taken lightly as just casual arguing. It has very strict rules, according to very strict concepts, and is done in front of judges. A person’s skill at debate is not directly attached to their skill at casual arguing. In fact, it takes most students around two years to reach a level of comfort with the concept of lincoln-douglas debate to even put up “varsity” level rounds.
THEREFORE: It is very difficult to find competition. Many posters questioned my stated need to leave town every time we have a tournament. This is your explanation. I live in the northern end of minnesota, in a cluster of the state where there are approximately 3 debate teams within 100 miles of eachother. Beyond that, we must travel to the Twin Cities or to North Dakota (where the debate programs are doing quite well) to face a decent level of competition.
Also, many posters questioned the fact that our debate programs uses hotels whenever it is not possible to house with a “native” debate team. There are many reasons for this that people living in certain parts of the country would likely not foresee. Being in the midwest, people are scattered enough where everyone is travelling to tournaments, therefore there are absolutely never enough houses to support the influx of debaters. Second, please note that we are staying at extremely cheap (and often scary and sticky) hotels, putting at least 4 kids in each room, and getting a huge group discount.
Another issue that should be addressed is quite simple. We use a bus instead of my car primarily because we combine transportation with the other high school in town. We easily fill this coach bus, making it the most efficient means of transportation available.
OK, it’s very possible, in fact it’s a certainty, that I’m beating a dead horse here. But now that my season has come to an end I feel compelled to provide an update. Two members of my team qualified to the national tournament in Oklahoma City. While I understand that this is a very substantial expense and do not expect the school system to understand my desire for full funding of this trip, I think that people should be aware of what is going on.
My situation: I have two students who qualified for the national forensic league’s national tournament. This is a tremendous honor and is the goal that all forensics students are shooting for. Put simply, when my students put forth the enormous amount of effort to have a chance to compete amongst the nation’s best, WE ARE GOING TO ATTEND THE TOURNAMENT. One of my students is wheelchair bound.
So, I smile inwardly to myself at what I am getting into and do what I do every year. I let the activities director know that I’ll be needing to take the big Dodge Ram van to oklahoma city. This van has no air conditioning, but I’m willing to make the sacrifice. (Side note: when the hockey team qualified for state in mid winter in northern minnesota, they rented them suburbans that had air conditioning to make the 150 mile trip. When we qualified for nationals in St. Louis in June, we took the Ram w/o air conditioning.) Anyway, the activities director informs me that we cannot take the van. In fact, the school is severing all attachment to the nationals tournament.
Here’s what this means to me:
All I wanted was to take the van. The kids were going to raise funds for lodging, etc. I was going to pay for at least half of it out of my own pocket. We simply wanted the crappy van that can take on a wheelchair. No dice. So, instead, we are forced to RENT a vehicle. Unfortunately, said vehicle cannot be wheelchair accesible. So, the disabled student has to go with her parents to OKC. Myself and the ONE student have to put up money to pay to drive accross the country in a rental.
Meanwhile, I drive by the brand new state-of-the-art baseball facility on my way to work every day.
Guys, I know that debate costs the system a lot of money. I know that we don’t bring in any cash like football and hockey do. But I also know that we bring in something much more important: we teach kids not only how to think for THEMSELVES and study independently, we teach them tolerance like no classroom can. Every day, they listen to and work with other kids and respectfully represent their points of view. They are required to debate either side of a very volatile issue, allowing them to fully appreciate the origins of both arguments.
And on a semi-personal note, it can show kids that they can do something they didn’t think they could do. Kids that do poorly in math, art, music, etc. can be astounding orators. I have not only seen it in my students but consider myself to be a classic example. I barely passed just about every class I took in high school, and the only thing that allowed me to maintain faith in myself and my own intelligence and ability was the fact that I was very much respected in the debate and speech community. If we lose our forensics programs, many schools will have next to nothing to give kids an oppurtunity to practice verbal skills.
OK. That was a rant. Thanks for reading, and if anyone out there is in OKC and wants to show me around when I’m in town, drop me a line. 
