Get Schooled

By NGMom

June 9, 2008 9:03 AM | Link to this

I’m a teacher and I can tell you that budgets are extremely tight. Our school system has frozen spending until Christmas. We do not get any money for supplies. We have to rely on our $100 gift card. After buying staples, paper clips, expo markers, a few pens, and maybe some post-it notes, my $100 will be history. Forget money to buy lab supplies or supplementary materials.

As a parent, I have to spend around $200 for 3 kids (elementary, middle, and high school). If it weren’t for Walmart’s back-to-school sale, it would probably be around $400. I buy paper, pencils, pens, folders, markers, colored pencils, binders, dividers, glue, index cards, composition books, and report covers. I basically try to stock up for the entire year.

By Ernest

June 9, 2008 9:56 AM | Link to this

As with any ‘business’, some costs are passed on to those directly impacted by the shrinking budgets. I can understand the point of ‘empty nesters’ that they don’t mind their tax dollars being used for the ‘common good’ with regards to funding schools. How does one determine when something is for a particular individual versus the entire community. Though it is hard for me to imagine, what would schools do for someone that says they cannot afford a self addressed stamped envelope?

Go to most school websites and note the supply lists are getting longer. I think most of us don’t mind supplying things like tissue, hand sanitizer, and wipes. When it comes to school supplies like pencils, pens, and paper that is gathered then redistributed, some parents do question the wisdom of that.

By happy2teach

June 9, 2008 10:01 AM | Link to this

As a teacher in a “high-needs” school, I think this issue is WAY over-blown. My school has plenty of money because what we get is spent the right way. Plus, if there are incidentals that I need, I’m creative enough to get them taken care of. It’s amazing what you can get donated to your class by local businesses if you just take the time to ask. The problem, as I see it, is that it is much easier to whine and complain than be proactive about problem-solving. Teachers(generally) seem to think that if you complain loud enough, when it comes time for accountability, no one will blame you for shortcomings.

I am happy to report that a growing number of teachers are progressive and moving away from the victim mentality that has plagued our profession.

Don’t be fooled, the schools get plenty of money, we just have to vigilantly watch how it is spent.

By happy2teach

June 9, 2008 10:05 AM | Link to this

As a teacher in a “high-needs” school, I think this issue is WAY over-blown. My school has plenty of money because what we get is spent the right way. Plus, if there are incidentals that I need, I’m creative enough to get them taken care of. It’s amazing what you can get donated to your class by local businesses if you just take the time to ask. The problem, as I see it, is that it is much easier to whine and complain than be proactive about problem-solving. Teachers(generally) seem to think that if you complain loud enough, when it comes time for accountability, no one will blame you for shortcomings.

I am happy to report that a growing number of teachers are progressive and moving away from the victim mentality that has plagued our profession.

Don’t be fooled, the schools get plenty of money, we just have to vigilantly watch how it is spent.

By Stacey

June 9, 2008 10:08 AM | Link to this

My son’s school divides the “other” supplies up by grade. The list isn’t available yet for the upcoming school year but last year’s required list included Kleenex, Clorox sanitizing wipes, ziploc bags, tennis balls, highlighters, liquid soap and hand sanitizer. The “wish list” dry erase markers, red pens, craft supplies, reams of paper & paper towels. The things that were on the “wish list” for his grade were on the “required list” for other grades and visa versa. The items were in addition to expected items such as paper, construction paper, crayons, pencils, glue, etc. He’s going to 2nd grade now so this year’s list will be a little different from last year’s. Last year he had to take two pairs of sissors but he didn’t get either of the back at the end of the year. Hopefully his teacher kept them so that her students next year won’t have to buy them. Surely they didn’t throw them away because they can be used for years to come.

By Stacey

June 9, 2008 10:22 AM | Link to this

As far as the SASE for report cards is concerned, we had to do that twenty years ago when I was in school. Parents who chose not to send the SASE could either pick the report card up at the school or wait and get it the 1st day of school of the next year. My son brought his report card home but CRCT results were mailed .

By OldSchool

June 9, 2008 10:26 AM | Link to this

Our small church is raising money to purchase school supplies when they go on sale (usually in August). We won’t actually donate them until January or February. Since our community does a beginning of the school year drive for supplies, we felt this would be a good idea. It also helps to spread out the hits to the pocketbook. We choose a different school each year and try to purchase what the teachers really need/request.

By happy2teach

June 9, 2008 10:37 AM | Link to this

Great job OldSchool. Thank you!

By catlady

June 9, 2008 10:40 AM | Link to this

Well, I don’t mind asking the parents to send tissue and hand cleaner. Those are their children who are sneezing all over the place. I think each child should be responsible for his own supplies, however, such as pencils and paper. However, you would not BELIEVE how few parents, even middle class, keep up with their children’s needs on supplies! They have money for school snacks, for example, but no money for pencils or paper? As a teacher of 34 years, I cannot tell you the hundreds of dollars I have spent on personal supplies for kids—things that their parents need to supply.

A funny, but true story: years ago, when I taught kindergarten, we asked parents to send tissues, paper plates, napkins, and cups for us to use when we supplied the students with juice and snack. One day early in the year a mother burst into my room after school, SLAMMED a box of Kotex on my desk, and huffed, “Well, I should think you teachers could supply these for YOURSELVES!” I was so astounded all I could do was stare as she stalked back out. I don’t think she ever did understand.

On a serious note, when I taught 5th and 6th graders, I had girls who would beg to take some Kotex home because they did not have any there to use. One told me she always hoped to have her period during the school week, because she knew we kept some “supplies” at school (bought with our own money, I might add.)

I don’t mind asking if someone has a pencil to share with a classmate, but to ask other parents to routinely supply other kids is too much, IMHO. I buy the plainest pencils available, 12 dozen each year, and when they are gone from my pencil can, that is IT. I also buy paper to give out judiciously during the year. But, first and foremost, it is the parent’s responsibility to supply their own children, and not this “communal” thing. Teaching generosity of spirit is not done by requiring kids to give to the pencil bank.

By happy2teach

June 9, 2008 10:50 AM | Link to this

Teachers are reaping what they have sown. The collective martyr complex we have makes us soft. I DO NOT hand out supplies,the kids know it and, miraculously, they have supplies with them every day.

By 30YearsIn

June 9, 2008 11:11 AM | Link to this

I have been known to run the back of leftover worksheets and PTA handouts through the copier to make lined “notebook” paper for my students to use. Usually, I just try to stock up at the end of the school supply rush with paper in some form, be it looseleaf or spiral notebooks.

By Ernest

June 9, 2008 11:31 AM | Link to this

Thanks for the insight you shared, Catlady! Sometimes we forget that some supplies we take for granted aren’t available to some. While much of it does come down to how some set ‘priorities’, at the end of the day most of us don’t want to see a child do without. I believe this is true even if we know their parent/guardian has the means to provide the ‘basics’. It’s hard to penalize a child due to the ‘shortcomings’ of their parent/guardian.

Oldschool, the outreach program performed by your church is a great one! Heck, I’d want to believe many other service organizations are doing something similar.

By holdingAJCaccountable

June 9, 2008 11:33 AM | Link to this

“Teachers are reaping what they have sown.” No truer statement has ever been posted on this blog.

The martyr complex is also a huge reason discipline is out of control; teachers have bought in to the lie that when they are cursed, spat upon, threatened, or even assaulted, it’s their fault, due to lack of “classroom management.”

Never mind the same people making this claim often can’t even control these students one on one, much less manage them in a classroom full of other students. Yet they’ll use the lie that “classroom management” is the reason the teacher was attacked as a justification to do nothing.

But when they themselves have to suffer the abuse, the same student who got nothing for attacking a teacher, suddenly gets suspended for “disrespecting” an administrator. And these same people will tell teachers to be “consistent”?

Again, teachers have been woefully weak when it comes to advocating for themselves. For starters, they join education organizations run by administrators, and they wonder why these organizations won’t address teachers’ rights and classroom discipline. It’s stupefying as to why this happens.

If teachers need to be held “accountable” for anything, it’s not their teaching; it’s their unwillingness to stand up for themselves.

By jim d

June 9, 2008 12:13 PM | Link to this

Yeah guy’s,

Then you have parents (yes parents) that voluntarilly send in reams of paper and the like to teachers that aren’t jerks. You see, sometimes all a teacher must do is be a bit respectfull towards the parents. I’ve personally shocked more than a few by sending in unsolicited supplies.

By OldSchool

June 9, 2008 12:21 PM | Link to this

Thanks for the pats on the back but since I am also a teacher (being CTAE, I prefer “instructor”) our little local mission is just something we do at our church since we are very small (fewer than 30 active members) and aging (our only youth are in college).

As for my own lab, I keep an “orphan” bowl into which I drop stray pencils and erasers I pick up after each class. My students can claim theirs or adopt from the bowl but I NEVER lend my own personal pencils or pens. Because I teach ED&D, I supply most everything they need out of a consumables account but everyone supplies his or her own pencils or lead holders. Anything on the floor or left behind on the tables/computer stations goes into the orphan bowl.

At the end of each term, students are supposed to pick up their 3 ring binders. Many don’t. So, I give them a couple of weeks at the beginning of the next term to claim them after which I recycle any usable worksheet/info sheets and put the binders into their own orphanage ready for adoption. We also recycle their old unwanted drawings and other paper. Can’t be too green these days.

Works for me.

By catlady

June 9, 2008 12:42 PM | Link to this

You are right, jim. We do occasionally have parents who send in extra, and you can believe you are talked about (in a good way:) while teachers eat lunch. We also occasionally have parents who will offer to pay for a field trip or other special activity for some unknown child whose parents don’t pay. Parents who go above and beyond ARe appreciated and praised. Much of the time the field trip money, tee shirt money, etc, comes out of the teachers’ pockets, or the principal has squirreled away profits from the snack store or has a benefactor who is willing to help. God bless them all! A woman I know from church approached me one day and said she felt led to give me money to use if I saw a child that needed a coat. She had gotten some money unexpectedly and wanted to use it wisely. What a great testimony—she did not have any family in school, but she wanted someone to benefit.

When I was a very poor single parent grad student, one of my son’s teachers offered to pay for a very expensive field trip for him with the school band. I was astonished—it was $110! I thanked her but said no, because he had gotten into a little scrape at school and I did not think he had shown the kind of responsible behavior to be allowed to go on a trip to FL, school function or not. But I cried when she pulled me aside to make the offer—her kindness was breathtaking! I hope she understood how much it meant, but how important it was that he be held accountable for poor choices.

I feel frustrated when it is the kids of parents who are “comfortable” who don’t take care of their child’s needs, knowing that the school will do it, or their kid can beg off someone else. They always have a “reason”—too busy, etc.

Then we have parents who I know don’t have anything to spare but they send something special for the class. Or they tell me, as three did at the end of the year, “I am asking God to repay you for your kindness to my child; I have nothing I can give you but my thanks.”

By danielle

June 9, 2008 12:45 PM | Link to this

I worked in elementary grades in South Fulton. The parents were not required to bring in anything due to the Free and Appropriate Education act. (FAPE) As a teacher, I could ASK them to send in supplies. As far as the budget cuts go, why don’t the cuts start at the top??

By Martina

June 9, 2008 12:55 PM | Link to this

Teachers in “high-needs” schools usually do have more money to allocate because of Title I funds. Our Title I schools in our county all have Promethean boards, will our school has only 3 because we are having to use PTO fundraisers to purchase them. Our school bookkeeper was cleaning off her computer before school was out and found her budget from the 2002-2003 school year. She said our school is allocated over $20,000 less now than we were back then (and we have more students now). Luckily, most of our parents are able to help out by sending supplies, etc., but I’ve taught in schools where you were lucky if they had a pencil every day!

By Couldn'tHackIt

June 9, 2008 12:57 PM | Link to this

My church also has an “adopted” school, but we stopped providing actual supplies and opted to provide gift cards to the teachers because it seemed as long as they could see the actual supplies available, no one bothered to purchase their own.

To OldSchool We used to save our report separator pages at my job to donate to classrooms as scratch paper, but no longer. It’s a great way to recycle and kids use less “new” paper for scribbling. You want it?

By happy2teach

June 9, 2008 1:27 PM | Link to this

I am constantly amazed by this notion that teaching has to come from money. Great teaching comes mostly from passion, creativity and hard work, not Promethean Boards (whatever those are). In this digital age, it SHOULD be cheaper to run a school and a classroom. Once you have the basic technology in place, which schools do now, there is an almost limitless amount of FREE resources available to any teacher willing to look for them. Just look at the great list of sources compiled on the upper left hand side of the page of this blog!

If we carry these negative, “poor us” attitudes into the classroom, the kids pick up on it and we are again spiraling into an atmosphere of pre-destined underachievement.

By Stacey

June 9, 2008 1:27 PM | Link to this

Several years ago I worked for a fairly large office that closed the Atlanta location. You would not believe the amount of office (school) supplies that went in the trash. They actually brought in two of the huge plastic “dumpsters” for the employees to through away stuff. HUNDREDS of three ring binders, markers, highlighters, pens, dry erase markers, staplers, tape dispensers, sissors, etc. Several of us asked why it was being thrown away instead of donated to a school or charity and we were told that due to liability issues, they were only allowed to donate new and/or unopened supplies. Such an unbelivably huge waste! We (the employees) weren’t “allowed” to even keep our supplies though they told us that they wouldn’t try to stop us from “dumpster diving”. Though the dumpsters were clean and in the lobby of the office, most people who wanted their stuff just boxed it up, labeled the box(es) and got it when they got ready to leave out.

By Tony

June 9, 2008 3:47 PM | Link to this

We are fortunate in my school to have parents and community members who support our kids with supplies and materials for school. We have a local business that provides free supplies to anyone willing to come out on a Saturday to get them. Parents (90%) make sure that children have needed materials. If we have a kid that has a true need, we are provided a stash of materials to hand out.

About the budget, it is tight this year. Systems that are hardest hit are the ones outside of the Metro area. The state has cut into school funding so deeply that these systems are increasingly on the verge of bankruptcy. South Georgia counties are particularly hard hit.

Stacey, a few years ago the school where I was principal had an offer from a business that was closing to receive their office supplies. We had a huge tractor-trailer load of paper, 3-ring binders, pens, pencils, paper clips, glue, you name it! Sorry your company didn’t think about that option.

By OldSchool

June 9, 2008 4:23 PM | Link to this

I appreciate the offer, Couldn’tHackIt, but I’m way down here in very South Georgia. Might I suggest that you contact an area daycare or church school? They might have a need for the paper.

I am also fortunate enough to have a nearly adequate consumable account thanks to my program’s setup. Half of my students are learning traditional board drafting (paper-hungry) but the other half are on computer-based training and AutoCAD. I’ve developed a system of grading most of the basic work directly on their computers and we are very careful with our printing. I just think I need to set a good green example whenever I can.

Any shortfalls during the year are usually made up by my Advisory committee’s donations or other school departments’ reciprocity. We all help each other out as much as we can.

Another idea would be for companies to contact CTAE programs at area high schools and see if they could use the materials.

By Teacher, Too

June 9, 2008 4:30 PM | Link to this

My supply list is solely for the student to know what he/she is expected to have in class each day (with the exception of a box of tissues and hand sanitizer). I don’t want to be Walmart and have to hand out supplies to students, especially in middle school!

You would not believe how many students don’t bring in a box of tissue and a bottle of hand sanitizer, and then complain about not having a tissue to blow his/her nose and hand sanitizer to use.

This past year, I had a couple of students who had chronic allergies. Between the two of them, they probably used three boxes of tissues each. I did e-mail the parents and nicely requested that they please send in an extra box of tissue or two as they had been using a lot of tissue. Both parents were great and sent in a couple of boxes.

I do think it’s the parents responsibility to send their children to school with the appropriate supplies each day. It’s not the teacher’s responsibility to collect and allocate supplies. If a child repeatedly comes to school ill-prepared, maybe the counselor needs to get involved.

By verdi73

June 9, 2008 4:36 PM | Link to this

Our principal told us that we had to supply our own expo markers, pens, pencils, folders, post it notes, and that we would receive an allotment of copy paper per 9 weeks. Money is tight because we are in a recession and tax revenue is down. Instead of jacking up the millage rate, unlike what the Gainesville City Schools are doing, we are helping out by tightening our belts.

By OldSchool

June 9, 2008 4:42 PM | Link to this

Most of us at our school keep a roll of tp handy for the students…a bit rough on the nose but hey, it’s cheap and readily available.

I guess it might not be at some schools though. (And yes, our students refer to it as “sandpaper.”)

By Stacey

June 9, 2008 5:10 PM | Link to this

Tony…I was floored when they told us they couldn’t donate it because it was open and/or used. To me it seemed like the common sense thing to do, especially since they had to pay to dispose of it.

Last year I went straight from work to a PTA meeting at my son’s elementary school and I had to use the bathroom. Now granted, it was the end of the day and the janitor hadn’t had time to clean it, but it was filthy and I could smell it from the hallway. It did have tissue (sandpaper) in the stall but when I washed my hands I discovered that there was no soap nor paper towels. When I mentioned it to one of the teachers she said that they don’t keep it in the bathrooms because the kids make such a mess with the soap and they stop the sinks and toliets with the paper towels. She said that they take schedule bathroom breaks and the kids line up to get a squirt of hand soap when they are finished and she hands them a paper towel at the door so she can watch them toss it.

By Tony

June 9, 2008 5:17 PM | Link to this

Our principal told us that we had to supply our own expo markers, pens, pencils, folders, post it notes, and that we would receive an allotment of copy paper per 9 weeks. Does this school system still support an athletic program in its schools? If so, it should be criminal to turn to teachers and require they purchase the basic classroom supplies.

By catlady

June 9, 2008 5:19 PM | Link to this

Starting last year we are alloted 150 “copies” per week per teacher. No matter the class size, and using both sides of the paper counts as two copies.

By OldSchool

June 9, 2008 5:20 PM | Link to this

Maybe we could sweet-talk good ol’ Sonny into pushing for letting companies donated those opened packages and/or used materials/supplies. These are tough times and relaxing some of the rules could keep valuable usable materials out of landfills and allow schools to stretch their meager supply funds. Wouldn’t that be just as good as any Sonny Money?

By catlady

June 9, 2008 5:22 PM | Link to this

Tests don’t count against your allotment, but you ARE expected to do a weekly parent newsletter which counts. You can “save” your copies till the end of the month, but any unused then just disappear. And we have virtually NO consumable workbooks grades 3-5.

By Tony

June 9, 2008 5:46 PM | Link to this

Talking about copies, I think a limit of 150 is too low. I do understand why copying both sides counts as two copies. Most people do not realize that schools pay a service contract based on the number of copies. Front and back copies count as two copies. This service contract is higher than the cost of the machines.

By yesiamworried

June 10, 2008 5:48 AM | Link to this

It has been my impression that Dekalb needs to make some huge cuts at the top. I thought I read that the Board instructed Dr.Lewis to do so.

But wait, someone go look at the job postings— DeKalb is getting ready to hire (drumroll please) an “Environmental Director. The successful candidate should have a passion for green building and an understanding of its critical role in the development, implementation and administering of the Going Green Program for the DeKalb County School System.”

Salary — 88,000 to 112,000

Dr. Lewis is still (like many children) having a hard time understanding the difference between wants and needs. This is not a need,this is a luxury and right now, given the fact that revenues are down, the system probably can’t afford it. (Maybe some other position was eliminated to justify this one, but I doubt it.)

By WFC

June 10, 2008 7:32 AM | Link to this

As long as Fulton County has $150,000 to pay worthless central office bureaucrats such as Robert E. Burke, I’m not concerned about “supplies” for the classroom. If you are a wimp, teachers, you get what you deserve.

“The meek shall inherit the earth… and they’ll deserve it.”

By verdi73

June 10, 2008 7:58 AM | Link to this

Tony, The only thing the school system pays for for athletics is teaching supplements. They have to rely on their athletic booster club for the rest. Everyone around here is fundraising like crazy to have a little money for the kids. All fundraising money must be spent on the students with proper documentation.

By catlady

June 10, 2008 9:05 AM | Link to this

Verdi, do you mean the undocumented students cannot use the equipment? :)

Re: teaching supplements: our football coach teaches one class (out of 4 possible) AND gets a very large coaching supplement. With a master’s and probably 20 (partial) years’ experience, he gets about $90,000 per year. Our basketball coach has a similar situation, but he has to teach 2 classes. Oh, and a part time position for his wife (out of field) where she decides where she will work and who she will teach. As they say, sswweet,huh? What parts are local money vs. state money vs. booster money? And what happens to the poor schmucks who have to pick up his share of the load because he has too much to do for his coaching duties? How do we figure that in? I feel very weary when folks talk about the booster clubs picking up some of the expenses. There are hidden expenses they do not pick up.

By Tony

June 10, 2008 4:26 PM | Link to this

The only thing the school system pays for for athletics is teaching supplements. I have a hard time believing this. There are costs for athletics programs besides coaching supplements: buses, power bills for stadium lights, water bills for the pretty green grass, stadium upkeep, fuel costs, and so forth.

Even if the board only paid for the teacher salaries and supplements, how many of those positions are above what the school earns through FTE?

The point about demanding teachers to purchase their own classroom supplies remains. Unless there are equivalent cuts in athletic programs, it should be unlawful for school systems to pass on the responsibility for necessary supplies.

By verdi73

June 10, 2008 5:11 PM | Link to this

catlady, I reviewed my response, and I was unclear. When I say proper documentation I mean receipts, purchase orders, etc., proving that money was spent on students, how it will be used in the classroom, etc.

Tony, When I was working on my specialist degree, we debated on athletics and whether or not they are funded locally. I stated that athletics were funded locally and I was blasted out of the water by the coaches in the water that said they were not funded locally, but by boosters. I just kept my mouth shut because I knew they didn’t want to listen to anything I had to say. I teach at a middle school, and they have to pay for their own buses, equipment, don’t have lights on the field, and because of the drought no fields are watered. High school is a different animal and I can’t speak for what they do. All I know is I am having to use my money to have supplies for next year. Just grin and take it for now.

By verdi73

June 10, 2008 5:12 PM | Link to this

catlady, I reviewed my response, and I was unclear. When I say proper documentation I mean receipts, purchase orders, etc., proving that money was spent on students, how it will be used in the classroom, etc.

Tony, When I was working on my specialist degree, we debated on athletics and whether or not they are funded locally. I stated that athletics were funded locally and I was blasted out of the water by the coaches in the water that said they were not funded locally, but by boosters. I just kept my mouth shut because I knew they didn’t want to listen to anything I had to say. I teach at a middle school, and they have to pay for their own buses, equipment, don’t have lights on the field, and because of the drought no fields are watered. High school is a different animal and I can’t speak for what they do. All I know is I am having to use my money to have supplies for next year. Just grin and take it for now.

By Elizabeth

June 13, 2008 9:20 AM | Link to this

It is well known in my system that athletics can get anything it wants. I stopped furnishing ANY school suppies out of my pocket years ago when. I use my “Sonny Money” to buy supplies that i need— pper clips, etec because I get no money ro supplies from my school. I fell sorry for the kids whose parents realt cannot afford supplies— but they are a minority in my school. If parents do not donate Kleemex, then my kids do not blow their noses in class. I have a box for myself because I have allergies, but I was providing 3 booxes of Kleenex a week simply because some students waste it and use it as an excuse to leqave theie seats and go outside. For this I am regarded by my fellow teachers, administrators. parents, and students as “stingy” and “mean”. Nevermind that the peopple I work with know that my husband is disabled and we live on my salary. The kids whine and are resentful and think is my job to provide all their supplies. I continue to refuse though this causes discipline issues in my classroom every day. My mother was a teacher in the 50’s and 60’s and we lived on her salary. She would never have dreamed of expecting my teachers to provide things likepencils, paper, and Kleenex. I send out a supply list with a letter that states that I will not be provding these things. When a kid does not complete a test because he does not have a pencil, he gets a zero. If the does not have paper for an essay, he gets a zero. If he needs to wipe his ho=nose, he can use notebook paepr or paper from my recycle box.

I reached the end seveal years ago when one of my assistant principals informed me that =, as an incentive to better on the CRCT, each homeroom would have a pizza party for those who passed the test. When I asked who was providing the pizza, I was informed that I was— there was no money in the budget for that. I refused, and even though I had taught there for 20 years, I was harrassed out of my job the next eyar. I was the only one w******* to buy the pizza so my kids were provided pizza by the school becauses I refused to give in. That finished it for me.