Am I the only one who is ticked about the "school supply" lists?

[twomoms]

I was thinking the same thing, it probablly ends up being a "wash"

[beaglesfly']

Originally Posted by brandee I will NOT bribe my students with candy, chips, or coke. I will however offer pencils, extra credit (called Raise a Grade Coupon) or homework passes. Students can receive these for things other than bringing in supplies (ie behavior). I have tried to just ask for the items but the students do not care unless they get something for it. The school does not supply tissue and hand sanitizer, the overwhelming majority of parents will not supply it, and I will not supply it for the entire year. Unless it is donated we do not have it. The children will be conpensated for their donations. The extra credit does not make a large differrence in their grade. The majority of my students are from low-income families. However, money is found for expensive name brand clothes and shoes. Students have cell phones and Ipods. Girls have $100-$200 hair dos and fake nails from the salon. Its about priorities. If you can afford all of that you can afford a box of tissues.

i agree with you, you should not offer food as a reward ESPECIALLY junk food, that is one of the reasons thousands of kids have diabetes, heart disease and are over weight just to name a few, and yes I know it is not the sole reason...where my son goes to school they are asked to bring in box tops when they do they get a reward, do you think that's bribary too, b/c what if a parent can't afford the food that has the box tops on it? if i know my son is going to be rewarded with something and it's gonna make him feel special i will do it no matter what it takes, even if it takes the 1.25 i would spend on the sunday paper to buy it!!

[beth119]

Originally Posted by andreajoyk i agree with you, you should not offer food as a reward ESPECIALLY junk food, that is one of the reasons thousands of kids have diabetes, heart disease and are over weight just to name a few, and yes I know it is not the sole reason...where my son goes to school they are asked to bring in box tops when they do they get a reward, do you think that's bribary too, b/c what if a parent can't afford the food that has the box tops on it? if i know my son is going to be rewarded with something and it's gonna make him feel special i will do it no matter what it takes, even if it takes the 1.25 i would spend on the sunday paper to buy it!!

I agree. Schools use bribery all over the place.

WHat about all those stupid fundraisers where the kid gets a gumball machine toy for every $500 sold??

Boxtops are a big competition, too.

When my first son was in preschool, they handed out certificates, and free pizza to the kids with perfect attendance. The funny part was, there is no bus for preschool here, and I am pretty sure the 4 years olds weren't driving themselves to school.

Life isan't fair. The whole world works off a system of you do for me, I do for you. School isan't any different.

[beth119]

I wanted to add that DH and I were discussing the whole school supply topic this evening.
He said that he expects the school to supply an education to his kids. He expects them to supply what is needed to educate them. Building, books, teacher, desk, chair.
He said things like clorox wipes, germ x, tissues, crayons, markers...are things WE want them to have in school, so therefore WE buy it.

It made me think though...what is ACTUALLY really needed, and what do we just want there?? I know I want clorox wipes, and kleenex there. But it is not a required part of an education...

[darkwing932]

Originally Posted by beth119 I agree. Schools use bribery all over the place. WHat about all those stupid fundraisers where the kid gets a gumball machine toy for every $500 sold?? Boxtops are a big competition, too. When my first son was in preschool, they handed out certificates, and free pizza to the kids with perfect attendance. The funny part was, there is no bus for preschool here, and I am pretty sure the 4 years olds weren't driving themselves to school. Life isan't fair. The whole world works off a system of you do for me, I do for you. School isan't any different.

I hate the fundraiser thing! There are fundraiser where the school only makes 10%. So out of $1000 in sales the school gets a big bad $100. While my opinion on sending in things on the teacher's list is already known I have an opposite view on this matter. I would much rather the PTA send home a letter saying that they want to purchase, say, a computer. The computer will cost us $X.XX and there are 100 families in the school so we are asking for a donation of $X.XX from each family. I would rather give my $20 to the PTA and know that the whole amount was being used for the school vs. some company getting $18 for over-priced junk and the school only getting $2. DH says this would never work because the PTA mommies that hang around the school all day would then be homeless, lol.

Originally Posted by beth119 I wanted to add that DH and I were discussing the whole school supply topic this evening. He said that he expects the school to supply an education to his kids. He expects them to supply what is needed to educate them. Building, books, teacher, desk, chair. He said things like clorox wipes, germ x, tissues, crayons, markers...are things WE want them to have in school, so therefore WE buy it. It made me think though...what is ACTUALLY really needed, and what do we just want there?? I know I want clorox wipes, and kleenex there. But it is not a required part of an education...

IMO the only things that should come home on these lists are, (depending upon the grade level), pencils, pens, a binder with loose leaf paper or a notebook, crayons or markers, some type of folder for bringing home paperwork, highlighters, glue, (although in my day the school had that), maybe index cards, and some extra erasers.

[tivaclare]

It's been awhile since I've been in school (I'm 26) but my brother is 10 years behind me and I can't tell you how many things were on the list he "had" to have and then NEVER used. It used to frustrate the heck out of my folks! That stuff really adds up.

It came to a point to where they'd send him to school with the basics like pencils, folders, etc and would buy things on an as needed basis. For the most part, I think most of the supplies are gratuitous and unnecessary. The things I used most throughout most of my school "career" were: pens/pencils, loose leaf paper, folders, erasers.

I was a TA at a private school and we kept the supply lists to a minimum for the sake of clutter and mess! We did, however, have a "wish list" at Christmas for supplies the classroom needed like new maps, etc, and it was strictly voluntary. No bribery or contests or pizza or ice cream parties. We'd release a discreet list, place it in a prominent location and it was up to the parents to take it or leave it.

The school did do those pizza type fundraisers and whatnot, but the profits went into activities that were group wide like school trips, etc. The funds never went to school running costs.

[Mom2my3sons]

Originally Posted by beth119 I have a question.... A lot of people here have said that their tax dollars are paying for education...I know mine are..we pay a LOT of taxes in various areas, and varoius states...BUT... what about the families that DON'T pay taxes???

Schools are mostly paid for through property taxes. If you are paying to live in a building, there is a 99% chance you pay taxes on it directly or indirectly. If you rent, part of your rent money goes towards the taxes on that property. No way, no how is the landlord not including taxes when he figures out how much to charge for rent. So, the rent money is going to pay the taxes, it just makes an extra stop on it's way to the Board of Education coffers.

As for the homeless, then no, they aren't paying taxes, but there are plenty of people w/o children that pay taxes but don't use the school system.

[Mom2my3sons]

Originally Posted by beth119 I wanted to add that DH and I were discussing the whole school supply topic this evening. He said that he expects the school to supply an education to his kids. He expects them to supply what is needed to educate them. Building, books, teacher, desk, chair. He said things like clorox wipes, germ x, tissues, crayons, markers...are things WE want them to have in school, so therefore WE buy it. It made me think though...what is ACTUALLY really needed, and what do we just want there?? I know I want clorox wipes, and kleenex there. But it is not a required part of an education...

I could go with this. But I think crayons and markers are part of art education so I believe they should be provided by the school. I also think a safe environment is a requirement for a school, so Clorox wipes and other germ killers are their responsiblity. I only think that because schools here had an outbreak of MRSA. If our kids are getting sick by going to school, we shouldn't have to send them.

[cheynesnana]

Originally Posted by darkwing932 I hate the fundraiser thing! There are fundraiser where the school only makes 10%. So out of $1000 in sales the school gets a big bad $100. While my opinion on sending in things on the teacher's list is already known I have an opposite view on this matter. I would much rather the PTA send home a letter saying that they want to purchase, say, a computer. The computer will cost us $X.XX and there are 100 families in the school so we are asking for a donation of $X.XX from each family. I would rather give my $20 to the PTA and know that the whole amount was being used for the school vs. some company getting $18 for over-priced junk and the school only getting $2. DH says this would never work because the PTA mommies that hang around the school all day would then be homeless, lol.

I so agree about the fundraisers... I got to the point when my dd's were in school that I would rather have paid $100 per child up front than have to do the fundraisers...

[derketchup]

I told my brother about the school supply lists... he done me proud! He had the same reaction I did.

"Don't they have paper towels and soap in the janitor's closet?"