General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: NJ teen loses first legal battle to make parents pay for education [View all]knitter4democracy
(14,350 posts)Look, lawsuits are about a side putting forth a proposition, and the other side either agreeing to it or not, and then the negotiations start. If there is an impasse, it goes to the judge. Yes, her parents are fighting in court because, in all reality, they should have to pay her high school tuition (bill's in their names, not hers, and the contract is with them, not her). They could have agreed to that in the negotiations and taken that off the table, but they didn't. That's part of why it's in court now.
As for her suspension, we only know about it because Mommy and Daddy made sure to tell the press about it. What was it for? We don't know. How long? We don't know. When? We don't know. For all we know, it was for something like too many tardies (which can happen in the Catholic schools--I know, as I have taught in 3 now in my teaching career). Her parents smearing her in the press isn't going to help that relationship at all.
Their largess? They decided to have children, yes? Decided to send their daughter to a good, private school, yes? Decided to set money aside for her college, yes? That's not largess--that's taking care of your kid, the one you chose to have. Not liking her boyfriend (what apparently set this all off, according to both sides) doesn't make your daughter not exist or nullify your decision to have a child and take care of that child. Screwing over her future over a disagreement over a boyfriend is amazingly bad parenting.
NJ law seems clear about an 18 year old getting financial support until s/he graduates from high school, so yeah, it makes sense for her to ask for help until she graduates and can get the hell out of there.