This column appears in nearly 258 publications all over the world. One of our Ohio readers brought to our attention the fact that the local school board cancelled high school football and all other extra- curricular activities in Grove City, Ohio, just six miles southwest of the capital city of Columbus. I guess it’s a sign of the times of which we are a part.

Normally 11,000 screaming fans would have gathered at Grove City High for something that is a right of passage for kids everywhere- high school football on a Friday night.

It is not just football that got cancelled, but a way of life… a right of passage for kids everywhere. Anyone who ever played under the Friday night lights knows that warm glow that comes over you when family, friends and neighbors gather to cheer on the local kids, win or lose. A right of passage got the hatchet.

Cheerleaders that lead the Friday afternoon Pep Rallies no longer have anything to cheer. The Marching Greyhound Band that normally plays to a capacity house no longer entertains. Sadly, these same financial strains affect school boards in every city and every state.

No one wants to sit in judgment on this particular issue, but it does raise some interesting questions. Turns out the South-Western City School Board, which includes four high schools, took the unprecedented step of canceling all extra-curricular activities after voters failed to pass an operating levy. Now four high schools in Ohio’s sixth largest school district have no sports, no bands, no drama productions and no student council. Is this a move to get even with the voters?

Neighbors have turned on one another in anger. I am reminded of the age old saying: “Everybody wants to go to heaven; nobody wants to die.” Everybody wants paved roads and good schools; nobody wants to pay the taxes necessary to pave and build. Everybody wants quality education for their kids and grandkids; nobody wants to foot the bill.

There is another old saying: “We get the kind of government we deserve.” I personally reject that as not exactly being the “whole” truth.

The situation in South-Western is extreme, but it isn't unusual. Across the nation, school districts are wrestling with a fundamental question. When money is tight, should taxpayers be funding high school sports? When you put 11,000 people in the stands, one would think that sport should be able to not only pay for itself but all the other sports combined. Unless they are giving away the seats, this should be a no-brainer.

In Mount Vernon, N.Y., students, parents, coaches, teachers and community leaders raised nearly $1 million to fund the school district's sports program for the 2008-09 school year after voters twice declined to pass the district budget and forced the district into austerity mode. The budget was passed -- with funding for athletics -- for the current school year.

In the East Side Union district in San Jose, Calif., sports were on the chopping block until this summer, when district officials reached an 11th-hour compromise to fund sports that included a $200 "donation" from each athlete.

The net result of such extreme measures is that parents will move their kids to other Districts that still play football. Let the mass exodus begin. And it is not just an exodus of students, but also coaches and teachers. Talk about cutting your nose off to spite your face.

Perhaps the more important field of exploration here is how does one get elected to a school board that looks only to cut instead of looking for solutions? Is this a way of blackmailing a community into a tax increase?

If you tried such drastic measures in most small towns you would have a major rebellion on your hands. The net result is a community will begin to wilt and die when you take the blossom off the trees.

Everybody wants to go to heaven; nobody wants to die. This scene could be coming to a community near you.