Kids' School Supplies

[navane]

This whole thing is odd. I don't have any children, so I'm not sure what the school supplies issue is currently like in my area. In elementary school, I do not recall being given lists from the teacher with instructions for what specifically to bring to school.

I always remember arriving for school on the first day and there would be a desk for each student with a brand new pack of crayons, a couple of pencils and some paper. The teachers already had a big box of scissors which were used year after year and remained with the class. This also goes for things like glue and such - we would go to the cabinet, get the glue, use it and then put it back for another student to use. We were never required to purchase supplies for a "community chest". Dictionaries were already in the classroom.

My parents purchased things for me like: backpack, folders, 3-ring binders, pens, pencils, paper, etc. I got to use whatever fun folders and pencils I wanted.

Soap??? With the exception of the two kindergarten classrooms, there were no toilet or wash facilities inside our classrooms. Kids who needed to wash their hands used the restrooms down the halls where they washed their hands with that powdery soap which looked like Borax and felt like you were washing your hands with sandpaper.

Firstly, teachers should be paid more. Period. Secondly, the school district should be providing supplies for the classrooms. Third, parents should do their part by supplying their children with the basics. Finally, there should be a fund for the teachers to purchase supplies for their classes and for the students who cannot afford to buy supplies.

I think perhaps the school districts are putting our teachers and parents in a bad situation. They don't fund the teachers, the teachers request supplies from parents, the parents get irritated and then the teachers get defensive about it. Meanwhile the school district has wiped their hands of the issue.

What's the deal? Why don't the schools have money for these things? I know our city had voted for a huge bond measure a few years ago to pay for physical upgrades to schools.....


.....Kelly

[AGDee]

Originally posted by navane
Firstly, teachers should be paid more. Period. Secondly, the school district should be providing supplies for the classrooms. Third, parents should do their part by supplying their children with the basics. Finally, there should be a fund for the teachers to purchase supplies for their classes and for the students who cannot afford to buy supplies.

I think perhaps the school districts are putting our teachers and parents in a bad situation. They don't fund the teachers, the teachers request supplies from parents, the parents get irritated and then the teachers get defensive about it. Meanwhile the school district has wiped their hands of the issue.

I think you should run for your local school board. You've hit the nail on the head on all counts!

[ZTAMich]

My co-workers and I all ask for liquid soap as well as things like clorox wipes, hand wipes, paper towels, plastic baggies, etc etc. Granted I'm in a major city, but I had a lot of cleaning to do in my classroom last week. We have construction going on outside the building so there's dust everywhere not to mention reminders of the rodents and critters who live in the building too. My school is very lucky and we have plenty of actual office supplies which is good. Some of my friends have to buy their own chart paper and what not for their class. There are certain basics every classroom here should have and well don't get me started on how unfair this city system is. Even if you can get most of the supplies from the school, teachers like to have extras on hand so things can be replaced quickly. I have to keep folders for each subject for my students as well as folders for my observations of their behavior and progress and color coding all that is WONDERFUL.

I braved Staples this evening (such a stupid mistake!) and the place was CRAZY with parents getting ready for NYC's first day tomorrow.

[kappaloo]

This is just a sign of how under-funded the classroom is. All the teachers here who have admitted to spending hundreds of dollars a year on supplies are not the minority - they are the large majority.

Times have changed. When I was a kid, we were only expected to bring our own pens/pencils/erasers. Glue, soap (?!?) and many of the other supplies were given. But cut backs occured, and things had to be cut.

If you're going to be angry, get angry with the school board. They are the ones who decide exactly how much money is given towards supplies for the school. Please don't get mad at the teachers, who are spending their own money to decorate the classroom, buy many supplies not listed here, and probably foot the bill of supplies for those childrens who parents who can not afford (or refuse to) buy the needed supplies.

ETA: 4th page?? Eek! Time to go and read the rest!

[AWJDZ]

whitedaisy...i agree with you. just reading some of this stuff has made me hot! but i forgot...teachers are paid for only working 9 months a year, we have our summers off, 2 weeks at christmas, we get off work every day at 3, and we get state benefits! our school and our state support us and provide everything we need to do our job to the best of our ability, we get to do lots of fun things like watch movies, take field trips, plan christmas parties, and bring home a huge paycheck! hahaha...if only it was REALLY like that!

i gotta run...I have a class of 42 students coming into my classroom of 38 desk in about 10 minutes. I am sure not everyone brought the proper materials for todays lesson, so I have to round up extra materials out of the closet that I bought from walmart last night. I also need to track down Billy to see if he brought the money to pay me back for lunch since he forgot his money last week.

[DeltAlum]

So let me see if I've got this right.

Everyone who lives in the same school district as me should not only pay for the building and maintenance of the schools, salaries for teachers as well as administration and support staff, all of the additional infrastructure and things like school busses, new construction, stadiums and all the rest of the stuff -- and they should pay for expendibles even though they have no children in the system?

Or, as a parent, I should expect a single person, an older person or a couple who has no children to pay for expendibles that my child(ren) may or may not use wisely?

Yes?

Great, then shouldn't they also pay for my kids clothes and shoes and stuff? After all, I wouldn't have to buy all of that stuff if they didn't have to go to school.

How about my gasoline if I have to drive the kids to school. How about a car if they drive themselves? I mean, if they didn't, the system would have to buy more busses, right?

Silly? Sure it is.

Here's the deal. If you want the school system to pay for absolutely everything, I'm sure they would be happy to. All you have to do, as a community, is agree to supply the money for them to do it.

That's right, agree to higher taxes.

Or, how about this. We can eliminate all athletic programs and extra-cirricular activities and use that money. And I specifically say athletic programs -- because the first things to go are generally the arts. Music, Theatre, visual arts, etc. In the high school our kids attended, many more students participated in the arts -- not even counting other activities -- than in athletics. It was a substantial majority. And this was a big (Class 5A) city high school with 18 or 20 teams probably.

In reality, in order for the school system to pay for "everything," they would probably have to cut both.

OK, how about this? If my taxes are going to pay for everything K-12, why shouldn't they pay for college as well? I mean everything.

There has to be a point where everyone's taxes stop and families start in paying for education.

Having put three kids through schools, two of them through college (well, one is still in college, and thank goodness for scholarships), and one thru "hair school," I have little sympathy for those who want to complain about the relatively minor expenses associated with public schools (considering the overall potential costs), but are the first to complain that the schools aren't doing a good job at educating their children.

End of rant.

Until later, probably.

[Kevin]

DA, totally agree 100%!

Parents complain about the most petty crap!

My girlfriend is a band director at a Mid-High school. She charges students that use school instruments $75.00/year. It costs about $100.00 to refurbish the instrument at the end of the year, so she doesn't feel like she's being unreasonable.

She actually had some parents complain and refuse to pay! She offered payment plans, etc.! Some still refused.

She had to go to the counselor and have the kids placed in other classes. The parents can afford $100 shoes for the kid, but not a $75.00 fee for the band instrument usage.

The sense of entitlement is amazing.

[Jadey28]

Great thread.

Reason #102998113 to not have children!

[Kevin]

Originally posted by Jadey28
Great thread.

Reason #102998113 to not have children!

Wha? No, you need to have children and make society give you some $$!

Those non-child-bearing people owe us something for refusing to procreate.

[kappaloo]

Originally posted by ktsnake
DA, totally agree 100%!

Parents complain about the most petty crap!

My girlfriend is a band director at a Mid-High school. She charges students that use school instruments $75.00/year. It costs about $100.00 to refurbish the instrument at the end of the year, so she doesn't feel like she's being unreasonable.

She actually had some parents complain and refuse to pay! She offered payment plans, etc.! Some still refused.

She had to go to the counselor and have the kids placed in other classes. The parents can afford $100 shoes for the kid, but not a $75.00 fee for the band instrument usage.

The sense of entitlement is amazing.

This is of course, only if the children don't do maliciously evil thing to their insturments. I once saw a fellow student when I was in elementary school "accidently" snap their violin bow in half. His parents agreed with him that it was an accident and refused to pay for a replacement! And then they had the nerve to complain to the principle when the teacher refused to let him play anymore!

[jharb]

I went to Catholic school. We had to pay for just about everything, including books. I don't really have sympathy for the complaining since I would spend about $400 in books each year, plus $100-150 on school supplies. I'd also have to buy a uniform with each skirt costing around $80 and a sweater costing $40. Did I tell you that I also paid more than the University of Cincinnati's tuition when I went to high school?

I'm glad my parents thought it was worth it to pay that much for me to have an amazing education. My teachers were paid as little as $20,000 starting out because it was a private school, I'm glad for the things they did supply. At the same time we knew that sharing was helping out the teacher so we would buy a pack of markers to share with the class or whatever was needed. I'd hate to be the one kid who forgot pencils one day and not have anything to use.

[AWJDZ]

Originally posted by THE BABY JESUS
Baby Jesus believes teaching to be one of the holiest professions of all. Jesus will continue to pray for increased school funding and better education for all around the world.

Thank you Jesus!

[AGDee]

Originally posted by DeltAlum

Here's the deal. If you want the school system to pay for absolutely everything, I'm sure they would be happy to. All you have to do, as a community, is agree to supply the money for them to do it.

Or, how about this. We can eliminate all athletic programs and extra-cirricular activities and use that money. And I specifically say athletic programs -- because the first things to go are generally the arts. Music, Theatre, visual arts, etc. In the high school our kids attended, many more students participated in the arts -- not even counting other activities -- than in athletics. It was a substantial majority. And this was a big (Class 5A) city high school with 18 or 20 teams probably.

I totally agree with both of these paragraphs. School is for education. Athletics have nothing to do with education, they are for fun only. The arts are more iffy, because they integrate with important historical trends as well, but they are not necessities. So yeah, I think the school should provide necessities like soap first, and if there's money left over, then do athletics, field trips, etc. I am willing to pay higher taxes, if the money is being spent wisely. I suspect that it isn't being spent wisely.

Most of the posters in this thread haven't bashed teachers, said that teachers are overpaid, etc. Most of us have said the exact opposite. We were simply questioning the necessity of some of the items on the kids' school supplies list. And yeah, it's a bit of a shock to the budget when you get a list out of the blue that's requiring specific brands of items and basic things like soap that you'd expect any public restroom to have. And, if you didn't budget the $40-$50 required to buy those supplies on the first day of school, it can really throw a parent into a panic too. If you know in advance, it's easier to deal with too.

Dee

[AWJDZ]

a lot of athletic programs are self-supporting. The money brought in from the gates (with basketball and football it is VERY high) is used to pay refs. Athletic programs and the sale of ads is used to fund other parts of athletics. Sport teams also have fundraisers to bring in money. Not very much public money goes into an athletic budget (or at least I can speak for my school, my county, and my state). Even coaches spend a large part of their money on their teams.

[DeltAlum]

I'd like to see some numbers on that.

Generally, Football and sometimes men's basketball (boys?) are self supporting and everything else is a substantial loss. In most systems, the two main sports don't make up the difference.

While I wholeheartedly support Title IX, it has made the financial situation even worse.

I'm pretty sure that most athletic programs have to be underwritten either by the school system or by student athletic fees.