Teacher Panhandles to raise money for school supplies

[Aliceacc]

Teachers, as a group, became teachers because they honestly wanted to make a difference.

As such, we're not going to "be a united front" and let our current students' education suffer in the hopes that our finances will be in better shape.

Educational reform takes forever. Everyone who ever attended school thinks themselves an expert, and too many of those non-experts have a say in making policy. That "united front" would take a generation to make a change, as does just about every other change in education.

That's an awful lot of sacrificial lambs.

It's simply not going to happen. The cost would be too high.

 

[bdcp]

My boys are 31 and 33 and we had to supply everything from tissues to crayons every single year they were in school. I can remember spending $100 plus almost every year. It's hardly a new thing that schools don't supply a lot of things like they did when we were young, but even then, we had to supply a lot. I would never panhandle for it though. We all know teachers don't become teachers because they think they're going to get high pay. Most that I know either did it because they really wanted to teach, or in quite a few cases, it works with mom's schedule and they get the same time off as kids. I even know a few who did so they'd have 8-10 weeks off during the summer. Schools get tons of donations every year from other organizations. Our church and my employer (US GOV) both donate a lot of full backpacks every year to schools as do many corporations. The list I have for requested supplies is pretty long. Both church and my agency step up and donate a huge amount every year.

My boys schools also always had donated funds to pay for kids who really didn't have the money to go on field trips. I was on the PTA board when my boys were in elementary school and we all knew who could and couldn't afford to do things. So, the PTA would donate funds raisedto different things for the school every year. That included building a computer lab (late 1980's), playground, funding the pot for kids who couldn't otherwise afford trips, etc, and classroom supplies. My point is, there have always been situations where donations were the only way to get things done.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I want to point out that, even if you try to make everything completely equal across the board, it's never going to truly be equal. I'll give you an example: I've always lived places where school funding was equal within the district--$X per child. But, we always lived in a "good" district, by which I mean that they've been comfortably suburban, with plenty of involved, caring parents. If you think those suburban-type families don't know how to work the system, you're dead wrong. At our last district, the PTA did heavy, heavy fundraising to ensure that our school had lots of extras. The PTA paid for all school supplies for every child. They held separate, yearly fundraisers for the library, art teacher, and music teacher. If teachers needed anything, the word would get out, and parents/PTA would donate supplies, from crayons to cloth for costumes for the big school play. There is no way that a lower socio-econimic school, even in the same district, could compete.

I also think the idea that teachers just come together and decide not to pay for school supplies is well-intentioned, but misguided. The school board or politicians aren't just going to say, "Oh, snap! Those teachers aren't paying for pencils. Let's immediately allocate $50,00 tax dollars to pencils to fill the gap!" It simply doesn't work that way. Maybe, MAYBE, years down the road, the politicians would "get it" and step up. Probably, they wouldn't. Because the problem is immediate, and they know the teachers and caring parents wouldn't wait that long, going without supplies while their children's future withered before their eyes.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

My boys are 31 and 33 and we had to supply everything from tissues to crayons every single year they were in school. I can remember spending $100 plus almost every year. It's hardly a new thing that schools don't supply a lot of things like they did when we were young, but even then, we had to supply a lot. I would never panhandle for it though. We all know teachers don't become teachers because they think they're going to get high pay. Most that I know either did it because they really wanted to teach, or in quite a few cases, it works with mom's schedule and they get the same time off as kids. I even know a few who did so they'd have 8-10 weeks off during the summer. Schools get tons of donations every year from other organizations. Our church and my employer (US GOV) both donate a lot of full backpacks every year to schools as do many corporations. The list I have for requested supplies is pretty long. Both church and my agency step up and donate a huge amount every year.

My boys schools also always had donated funds to pay for kids who really didn't have the money to go on field trips. I was on the PTA board when my boys were in elementary school and we all knew who could and couldn't afford to do things. So, the PTA would donate funds raisedto different things for the school every year. That included building a computer lab (late 1980's), playground, funding the pot for kids who couldn't otherwise afford trips, etc, and classroom supplies. My point is, there have always been situations where donations were the only way to get things done.

Don't forget love for kids

 

[texaslover]

As a teacher who is going back to work next week in a fairly wealthy district here is what I've spent so far:

$100 on bulletin board supplies, fabric for walls, calendar for wall, new pencil holders bc the kids last year wrote on and broke the old ones, new sharpies and markers for grading and creating anchor charts (required by district) bc the old ones were somehow misplaced (i.e. Stolen) by a student - and please don't say don't decorate the classroom, just leave blank walls if they don't give me the money. I have heard nasty comments from parents who didn't like their teachers "theme" or colors and that was after they spent money and time decorating. It is an expectation that the classroom be cute and welcoming with all the bells and whistles.

$50 on classroom incentive prizes for the reward system we are required to have (this will be something that will be replentished by me multiple times during the year even after emails to parents asking for donations)

$50 on composition notebooks and folders to cover kids who don't bring one for each subject and to supplement bc we are required to have more notebooks than asked for on school supply list.

$50 on pencils, markers, colored pencils and crayons to have a community supply for students who don't bring them or lose them in the first week. I will also spend money to buy new scissors and glue soon bc kids destroy and lose theirs and having them share the few that are left makes a 10 minute lesson turn into a 45 minute argument and mess.

$50 on tissues (one box per kid on list is gone by November) hand sanitizer, windex, and Clorox wipes bc the classrooms are nasty and germ filled and the janitorial services have been cut dramatically so we are required to clean our own rooms if we don't want to live in filth. They are vacuumed once a day and trash is picked up and that's pretty much it.

$50 on dry erase markers bc they arent on the supply list and students love to use them and are engaged in lessons when working with them. And having 7 markers for 24 students to share just doesn't work. Plus they run out quickly and no matter how many lessons I give on proper use there are still kids who squish the tip down or leave the cap off.

$50 on colored cardstock, index cards, baggies, clear paper sleeves and other materials to make learning games and partner activities.

Yes, some of the things I spend money on are to make the day run smoothly, lessons better, information more engaging, and atmosphere that the kids are in 8 hours a day more inviting but isn't that the point of school?? Elementary kids do not thrive on lectures and note taking, they need fun and educational activities in a comfortable environment where they know they are safe and taken care of.

 

[PollyannaMom]

You have to take emotion out of it.

How on earth do you "take emotion out of it" when you're dealing with little children? I'm "only" a sub, and I still feel protective of "my" kids.

And the poster (sorry, I lost track) who said the effects will be unequal was spot on!! The kids who live in well-off homes with a lot of support probably will manage to survive without "extras" at school, but the ones who are already struggling will fall further and further behind.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

I feel you @PollyannaMom I am only a volunteer and I feel the emotion