NotUrsula
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2002
- Messages
- 20,064
OK, if we are speaking of what a teacher is likely to most appreciate, I suspect that like most of us who do a difficult job, the very best thing is appreciation. Words.
If it is the custom to give an actual gift, then give one, but for heaven's sake don't feel forced into it. I don't know a single person who works with children who wouldn't be thrilled to have a personal note from the child and his parents thanking the teacher for all that she has done.
IME, individual teacher gifts go more by the wayside the older a child gets. Some schools take up collections via the PTA, but that is generally considered more a holiday bonus rather than a true gift; the PTA is merely picking up the slack for what the district cannot afford. My preschooler's teachers get personal gifts, but my HS students teachers do not, unless they are the club sponsor of a group that DS is involved in; the school discourages individual gifts and prefers the PTA bonus arrangement. (Private school.)
When I was a public employee I was barred from accepting any gifts regardless of value; teachers have been the last vestige of that old "apple" tradition for quite a while. The perception that they are all underpaid contributes to the idea that we owe them a little something extra at the holidays, when IME, that is really only fully true of aides and the support staff. The teachers mostly make a little more than I do. (And yes, it is a very difficult job and I didn't say that it isn't; I don't begrudge the gifts, I just find it unusual that they are usually allowed to accept gifts where other public employees cannot.)
If it is the custom to give an actual gift, then give one, but for heaven's sake don't feel forced into it. I don't know a single person who works with children who wouldn't be thrilled to have a personal note from the child and his parents thanking the teacher for all that she has done.
IME, individual teacher gifts go more by the wayside the older a child gets. Some schools take up collections via the PTA, but that is generally considered more a holiday bonus rather than a true gift; the PTA is merely picking up the slack for what the district cannot afford. My preschooler's teachers get personal gifts, but my HS students teachers do not, unless they are the club sponsor of a group that DS is involved in; the school discourages individual gifts and prefers the PTA bonus arrangement. (Private school.)
When I was a public employee I was barred from accepting any gifts regardless of value; teachers have been the last vestige of that old "apple" tradition for quite a while. The perception that they are all underpaid contributes to the idea that we owe them a little something extra at the holidays, when IME, that is really only fully true of aides and the support staff. The teachers mostly make a little more than I do. (And yes, it is a very difficult job and I didn't say that it isn't; I don't begrudge the gifts, I just find it unusual that they are usually allowed to accept gifts where other public employees cannot.)
