I just wanted to post a quick "thank-you" to whomever it was who recommended Donorschoose.org. I have designated that as my Christmas charity this year, and since both my in-laws are retired teachers, maybe this will be a charity they can live with. Their money staying stateside (until it's spent on foreign-made goods, at least... ) will be a selling point for them, too.
I've actually read this whole thread and:
1- No, it's not about the money, it really is the principal. I am very willing to donate time, money and supplies to my children's classrooms, but if a child is too neglected by their own parents to have the needed supplies and I send in extra, NOBODY has any business telling me what brand it should be. My children, nieces, and nephews use generics and they do just fine, as a supply-challenged child myself at times, I wouldn't have cared what brand it was as long as I could get the work done. I would never send something that we wouldn't/haven't used.
2- Community supplies are fine, but don't take what I labelled for my own children away from them. My daughter is special-needs, and the things I provide for her are supposed to make EVERYONE's life easier. Everything she has is attractive to her to help her keep track of it. Spelling books have ABCs on them and journals have story characters, and when you replace that with "whatever," not only does it set you up for an emotional display that her doctors and I will spend days/weeks undoing when she sees someone else with "her" special folder, it confuses her and undermines what little organization she has. If all her notebooks look the same, she'll never bring home the right one.
3- Teachers really *DO* go through that many pencils. Amazing, but true. Around April of this year I was visiting my daughter's classroom and the teacher mentioned that the few in the jar on her desk were all that were left... and this was after we had sent DOZENS per child in August. At that age, they lose them more than wear them out. I sent in 10 dozen pencils the next day (pre-sharpened, no less). Honestly, they were from dollar tree, and they sharpened just fine for me, but if the teacher was too good to use my free pencils, I'll never know, nor care.
4. Aside from that, so far there's nothing too bizarre on the lists this year. I personally can't stand the smell of hand sanitizer and would greatly prefer they actually WASH, but I understand the logic behind it, and as long as they don't come home reeking of alcohol, whatever...
If a child has an allergy and needs special supplies, their parents should ideally provide those supplies to be kept separately, however, if they cannot afford the gluten-free supplies, for example, the school does have a legal requirement to provide that child fair and equal access to education, including supplies... and there are many, many charities out there who do supply drives that can help out. Just like I take responsibility for providing what my special-needs child requires, even if it means I wear salvation army clothes (and I do), I hope that the other parents do their best to provide for their own child before trying to dictate policy to the rest of us. If not, then I want an addition to the supply list that says that every child must provide stickers and sugar-free candies to do PBIS for my daughter... she is allergic to sudden changes, rude children, and getting embarrassed.
at home. In fact, in January our home was burglarized. The officer walking through the home with us saw the school supply closet and said, "WHAT is THAT?" 
