Post your crazy school supply item here.

[bushdianee]

To the parent who said thay think that custodians sweep everything on the floor into the trash, they do. I teach 1st grade and every year have a few students who will drop pencils and crayons on the floor and leave them there for someone else to pick up.I am constantly asking students to pick up pencils and crayons. Each day before dismissal I remind students to check the area around their desk and pick up items. when I return to the room after dismissal I end up checking the floor again for pencils and crayons, that is if I get back in before the custodian gets in there.

We can't "tell" patents they have to buy certain supplies since a parent sued the district several years ago because public schools are supposed to be "free". We can no longer require fees for many things including field trips. We can ask for donations.

The only supplies I "suggest" are glue sticks or bottles of glue, tissues, and a plastic box to keep crayons in. Our school provides 1 box of 24 crayons, 2 pencils a month, scissors, paper, 1 eraser for the year. I can get some supplies for me but only the first few days of each month. When crayons are cheap I pick up enough to give each student another box for Christmas. that way if they need amore for school they have them if not they have a new box for home. I also give pencils and or erasers out for most holidays. We have a take home day each week which is when corrected work, newsletters, and school communications are sent home. I provide a folder for each student since I want them to be the same color. If a student loses their folder I do ask for it to be replaced. Very few get replaced, eventually I end up replacing the folder.

 

[MouseLover]

I teach first grade. We ask for 4 boxes of crayons and plain yellow pencils. I just wanted to let you know that those lists are generally to cover the entire year. I do pool pencils in my room but do not ask for a particular brand. Many of my students' parents may think I'm pooling crayons but I'm not really. I write the child's name on the extra boxes and distribute it as needed. Believe it or not, most kids really are using up all their own supplies. Remember, these are first graders. They are still learning how to take good care of their own supplies and many are lost or overused (glue sticks). Even with 4 boxes of crayons, I had a few students use all of their crayons before Christmas break and I had to request more from them. Not every crayon of course but if red, blue, brown, and green are all missing you need a new box. I do not ask for brands, but I would like to. Last year most of my kids brought in Dixon pencils. In the past this brand has been okay, but this time they were constantly breaking. A pencil would have to be sharpened so often that they could easily use one in a day or two.

 

[Friendly Frog]

Okay so I see this posted on here all the time and other places as well about the senior or the childless couple and how they should not be required to pay for a child's education, did these childless couples or seniors not receive an education when they were a child? Did they not personally benefit from the education system? Even if you have no children and never want to, it is highly likely that a person went through the school system at some point. As a adult they can look at it as paying for the next generation or they can look at it as paying for their own education once they are stable enough to pay into the system (property tax, income tax) it makes no difference really whether a person has a child or not.

You can look at it either way, you can not look at it both ways at once. In actually my parents paid for my education throught their taxes. We are paying for the cost of educating your children now.

 

[Friendly Frog]

At this point you may be arguing with me almost as much as against me. My replies are in red.

...

Yes, it's tough to save for retirement. The less money you earn, the tougher it is. Yes, I think today's generations (me included) have it harder than my grandmother's generation. However, if anything you're arguing that the working poor shouldn't pay for school taxes. Not at all. I am trying to find a way to explain that no matter how hard it is to pay when you are young and healthy, it is MUCH harder to find a job, work a job and keep a job...and pay school taxes too. I am saying that those who are old and at the end of their lives should not have to CONTINUE to pay school taxes. That we could much more fairly fund schools and that as a society we have a responsibility to our old just as much as we do our young.

I agree that my argument is cost/benefit. Everyone pays the cost of schools, that's a fair division of costs... Cost not based on consumption is rarely fair. Some families chose to have 5 children but pay in less to educate them than another family with one child pays.


-- But how does that equate to doubling taxes for kids to go to private schools? I don't see the connection. My example was just to illustrate how education costs are currently structured. Paying for a private school for a neighbor is as close to your "social benefit" example as I can get to a childless couple paying for school taxes. Both are costs to educate children not your own. While education IS important to a society, the benefit is NOT even to all members of that society. The greatest benefit will always be (in a democracy) to the individual (family) who receives it, NOT society as a whole.

The childless couple may never pay for their own children to attend school, but they themselves were educated -- statistically, they were probably educated in the public school system. Just like the senior citizen, they benefit from living in an educated society, and that isn't free.

No one is expecting it to be free. Some people do believe that it should be a little more consumption based. My parents paid for my education through their taxes. As a single childless couple we are paying now paying for the education of your children. The only reason this point was even brought up was to illustrate the disparacy of how education is really paid for and my belief that it should be paid for in a manner that would be consumption based, and therefore hopefully lift some of the burden off of the senior citizens.

You suggest removing the federal child deduction. How does a decrease in federal taxes help schools, which are funded mostly from state taxes? Again, I'm missing the connection. Removing the deduction increases revenue at the federal level. In other words, eliminate the tax break for each child and use that increased tax revenue to educate them! . The increase in federal tax revenue would be redirected to the states based on need. It would provide better funding for our schools and provide a more even education opportunity for all. The increased revenue would also allow a person, once they reach the end of life where they can not work, or working becomes MUCH more difficult ( if they can even find a job.) to FINALLY pay off the education debt to society.

If I were in charge of the world, I would fund schools in two ways: Partly through taxes, which spreads the lion's share of the costs across all citizens. And I would charge families a fee for every child. Why? Because people often don't value what doesn't cost them directly. Charging a fee would make people sit up and take notice, it would encourage more involvement in schools -- and that can only help improve education.

Yes, and if you eliminate the tax deductions for children and use that money to educate them (Not just the money from your neighbors.) it is not only a more equable system, but as a bonus it could free up enough funds to help everyone in their old age too. :2

 

[lnh'smom]

My kids go to private school and they are in elementary school but we just got an email today and all high school kids must have an iPad....now that's an expensive item on the school supply list!!

My face when I saw this email was ....

Ours too! Plus a $675 book rental fee. The kids also wear uniforms, which I am ok with, but they have to buy polos from the school with the schools logo on it for $30 each. Not allowed to wear plain polos that you can get on sale for $10 each at Kohl's or Penneys like DH wears to work.

 

[tina95]

 

[Sith Lord 13]

Check out this book for human anatomy (there are college-level books also).

http://www.amazon.com/Human-Anatomy...2391845&sr=8-3&keywords=anatomy+coloring+book

I just remember seeing my father's microbio coloring book and giggling. I never liked to color even as a kid, so I was just like "Why?". I guess it helped though, since he's an RN now.

 

[Sith Lord 13]

Supposedly yes, but in ALL the years I have used a rewards card at Staples...I have NEVER received a rewards check/coupon/whatever. I have spent money there every year shopping for my classroom and own children...they've confirmed there's nothing wrong with my card...and still, NOTHING.

OK, let me explain how it works, as I've hear this complaint before. (I work for staples.)

A) Everyone gets 10% back on Ink, toner, case and ream paper, and stuff from copy print.

B)You, if you have a teacher's rewards card, get 10% back on certain school items. (But I'll be darned if I know what they are.)

C) There are the special events, like the new increased limit for teachers, 100% back in rewards on item X, things like that.

That's it. If you buy a computer, or a phone, or a pack of gum, there's no rewards. (Still use your rewards card on each purchase, it'll help you get to premier status). In a Quarter (ie Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, Jul-Sept, or Oct-Dec), you must earn $10 in rewards to get a rewards check. It's annoying, yeah, I lost $9 myself on 100% back batteries because there was never another sale. But it's still a good deal, and there's no minimum on ink recycling ($2 a cartridge).

Oh, also, go to Staplerewards.com and check your e-mail, make sure it's got the right info.

 

[lady9]

OK, let me explain how it works, as I've hear this complaint before. (I work for staples.)

A) Everyone gets 10% back on Ink, toner, case and ream paper, and stuff from copy print.

B)You, if you have a teacher's rewards card, get 10% back on certain school items. (But I'll be darned if I know what they are.)

C) There are the special events, like the new increased limit for teachers, 100% back in rewards on item X, things like that.

That's it. If you buy a computer, or a phone, or a pack of gum, there's no rewards. (Still use your rewards card on each purchase, it'll help you get to premier status). In a Quarter (ie Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, Jul-Sept, or Oct-Dec), you must earn $10 in rewards to get a rewards check. It's annoying, yeah, I lost $9 myself on 100% back batteries because there was never another sale. But it's still a good deal, and there's no minimum on ink recycling ($2 a cartridge).

Oh, also, go to Staplerewards.com and check your e-mail, make sure it's got the right info.

IMO Staples has one of the worst reward programs. I used to drive 40 minutes to the closest Staples for their great sales for teachers. I always sent an e-mail thank you after school began so Staples would know how much their sale items mean to me and my class. I will not be going to Staples this year as I do not have the cash to spend $1.99 per pack of pens times 23 even if it means I get $45.77 in Staples rewards. If I did that for every sale item I need as a teacher, I'd have over $150 in rewards to use. I can't possible think what I'd spend $150 on at Staples before the rewards expired that I couldn't get someplace else for way less money. It's just not worth it. Although I loved that teachers could get 25 of the sale item, I'd much prefer they let teachers have the sale item but at a smaller quantity like 15 instead of 25 if their company can't afford the higher quantity for teachers. I'll be anxious to see if Staples continues this program for next year or changes it again.

 

[averysmom]

I really don't want to get in a debate on how your grandmothers situation is probably much different that the seniors retiring today or tomorrow. Maybe she had a pension plan, maybe her husband did, maybe she is getting both! She probably had a job that had low or no cost medical insurance, or her husband did? Inheritance? Windfall? She did live in a time that interest on a just a cd could get you 14%! Do the math and tell me how a blue collar workers today with no real pension plans or matching 401k ( the NORMAL now) can pay medical costs and save enough to ever be able to retire? Some people planned and invested for retirement but due to no fault of their own still lost most or all of it. Sometimes the best of planning does not make the dollar stretch to where it is needed.

But back to the school tax issue.


The issue of the benefits of education to society is not as much at debate here as is the fair distribution of those costs. Taking your lead of cost/benefit, is it important enough to vote to Double your school taxes so that all children can attend a private school of their choice? Exactly how important is the social benefit when it involves YOUR paying more. Should the childless couple pay double in property tax too?

How about this, would you vote to eliminate the federal tax deductions for dependent children? That federal money could be directed to the school system ( and be a lot more money that what is currently collected from seniors.) Or.... do you prefer to keep your "discount" for having more children? letting the childless couple and senior citizens property taxes subsidize the bill for their education?

I know this is not a popular subject in a mostly young family thread, but it is still food for thought.

BTW, No teacher should have to pay for a childs school supplies. It is great that so many caring teachers do that, but it is their charity not obligation.

The street goes both ways though. I don't know how it works in the US, but here, my CPP payments are going towards paying for the people on CPP now. If seniors can stop paying for school taxes at say 65, then I don't want to pay CPP for the entire time my kids are in school. Or (and I know this relates only in Canada), but I know that seniors (over 65) make up just 14 percent of our population, but consume 44% of our healthcare dollars - so 84 billion dollars. Maybe I don't want to pay for all of that either.
Now, we don't have the same kind of deduction for children here - it is 2000 a child, but it is a non-refundable credit so if you have to pay taxes, it will cut 300 dollars off you bill... I don't see how that wouldm replace school taxes.
Only charging people taxes for the services they use is a very very slippery slope.

 

[Zhoen]

You can look at it either way, you can not look at it both ways at once. In actually my parents paid for my education throught their taxes. We are paying for the cost of educating your children now.

That logic doesn't work. If you say that your parents' taxes paid for your education, how is it that my children are not covered by my and my husband's taxes, but rather by *YOURS*? I paid property taxes (frequently indirectly, as a renter) for 10 years before I ever had a child of my own, and another 5 years before my oldest began school, so that's 15 years I paid into the systems of the many states I lived in over the years... I don't mind at all. If you take the property taxes I have paid over the years, and will continue to pay, right now I'm "ahead" in that I've paid more into the system than my daugher has cost them, though this year my other daughter begins Kindergarten. So, if you considered my taxes in a paid in/took out manner, I guarantee "my" children have cost you nothing, assuming you were even in the same state as me.

I think what you're really trying to express is frustration that you, me, and all of us pay into a system where the services we are taxed for are not services we may ever use. But here's the thing... that goes for ALL services. I have never used any type of medicare/medicaid/social assistance. Should I not have to pay for that? There are plenty of people who would jump on that bandwagon... but there's nobody who really wants those programs to totally go away. There are legitimate reasons for "welfare", and the people who truly need these services obviously CAN'T pay for them... so whatever you think of that system and how it should/shouldn't change, the fact is, the ones who use it the most are the ones who can afford to pay into it the least.

Long before I had children of my own, my tax money went to the schools, the medicaid and WIC programs that helped other people's children. The children that get immunized at the "free clinics" were not incubating diseases that could affect me. The children who got food through WIC and AFDC/food stamps/etc did better in the public schools I helped pay for, and hopefully learned that they have opportunities to change their future. All of that helped cut down on the number of random young folks on the street, smashing my car windows in the search for loose change and stuff they could sell... it's not a perfect system, lots of kids don't get the advantages we believe we're giving them, and lots of them don't USE the chances they are offered...

... but all of that said, we DO all benefit from these programs in their most basic form. Yes, there is much debate about how much one citizen owes another, who is taking advantage, etc... but I believe that charging a per-child fee is a terrible idea. The most-poor often have the most children, and are already struggling... a per-child fee would only up the dropout rate, this time for a legitimate reason... so their would be some program to waive the fees for the most-poor, and we'd just be squeezing the middle class even more.

... as for the elderly and school taxes. I like what the PP said. If they shouldn't have to pay school taxes past a certain age, then I shouldn't have to pay FICA while my children are in school... oohh... maybe people in the central states shouldn't have to contribute to national defense, since they are the least likely to get hit with a foreign attack?

 

[Zhoen]

IMO Staples has one of the worst reward programs. I used to drive 40 minutes to the closest Staples for their great sales for teachers. I always sent an e-mail thank you after school began so Staples would know how much their sale items mean to me and my class. I will not be going to Staples this year as I do not have the cash to spend $1.99 per pack of pens times 23 even if it means I get $45.77 in Staples rewards. If I did that for every sale item I need as a teacher, I'd have over $150 in rewards to use. I can't possible think what I'd spend $150 on at Staples before the rewards expired that I couldn't get someplace else for way less money. It's just not worth it. Although I loved that teachers could get 25 of the sale item, I'd much prefer they let teachers have the sale item but at a smaller quantity like 15 instead of 25 if their company can't afford the higher quantity for teachers. I'll be anxious to see if Staples continues this program for next year or changes it again.

I agree this is a tough blow for the teachers that were using the program to help their students, and thank you for that. Driving 40 minutes to get supplies for your classroom is truly above and beyond

As a plain ol' parent, who was never eligible for all that stuff in the first place, I'm loving their program so far... each week I'm picking up whatever is 1 cent (with 5 dollar minimun, max 2) that I can use... it's been hit-or miss, but the stuff I buy full-price and then get the rebate on covers the $5 minimum, and last week's purchase was actually a money-maker for me, because I had $4 in toner trade-ins that I used, bringing my out of pocket total to $15 with $17 in rebates... so for $-2 I got two reams of printer paper, pens, 2 packs of dividers...
It IS requiring weekly attention/trips, but we have a staples near the house and another near work, so not much of a bother. The biggest thing is remembering to do the rebates right away, but they can be done online, so it's super-easy.

So yes, I can appreciate how disappointing this is for the teachers and I do hope they go back to something like they had in the past. But for average Janes, they're actually alright.

 

[KKB]

In a district that supplies all the supplies students need (though the kids almost always show up with a backpack full of stuff--have to laugh a bit, that when the supplies are supplied they WANT to buy items!) I have a question..
What if you DON'T buy the requested brand?

 

[Sith Lord 13]

IMO Staples has one of the worst reward programs. I used to drive 40 minutes to the closest Staples for their great sales for teachers. I always sent an e-mail thank you after school began so Staples would know how much their sale items mean to me and my class. I will not be going to Staples this year as I do not have the cash to spend $1.99 per pack of pens times 23 even if it means I get $45.77 in Staples rewards. If I did that for every sale item I need as a teacher, I'd have over $150 in rewards to use. I can't possible think what I'd spend $150 on at Staples before the rewards expired that I couldn't get someplace else for way less money. It's just not worth it. Although I loved that teachers could get 25 of the sale item, I'd much prefer they let teachers have the sale item but at a smaller quantity like 15 instead of 25 if their company can't afford the higher quantity for teachers. I'll be anxious to see if Staples continues this program for next year or changes it again.

The problem isn't affording the 25. The problem is the abuses and the arguments. During the last back to school season, I worked as a cashier. I had one individual make me ring them up 8 times in a row. Then there's an argument over who is and is not a teacher. We had to ask for a UFT (United Federation of Teachers, the public school union) card. If someone didn't have it, it was always an argument, I had to call a manager, and some people would even start making threats to me, my manager, and our families. By linking it to your rewards card, it's so much simpler, and I can feel safe at work again.

 

[ceburto2]

My sons go to a Spanish Immersion magnet school. Once they get to 2nd grade, they start having a class in English with an english speaking teacher. So after 2nd grade we not only have a list from the "home" spanish teacher but also from the English teacher. Yay!

 

[torinsmom]

In a district that supplies all the supplies students need (though the kids almost always show up with a backpack full of stuff--have to laugh a bit, that when the supplies are supplied they WANT to buy items!) I have a question..
What if you DON'T buy the requested brand?

I have never sent back anything that wasn't the requested brand. I do use up all the good stuff first and the less quality stuff is used when that runs out. We were using Dollar tree markers the last 6 weeks of school. The kids just had to deal with it, as I didn't have any more money to spend to replace them.

 

[lady9]

The problem isn't affording the 25. The problem is the abuses and the arguments. During the last back to school season, I worked as a cashier. I had one individual make me ring them up 8 times in a row. Then there's an argument over who is and is not a teacher. We had to ask for a UFT (United Federation of Teachers, the public school union) card. If someone didn't have it, it was always an argument, I had to call a manager, and some people would even start making threats to me, my manager, and our families. By linking it to your rewards card, it's so much simpler, and I can feel safe at work again.

I'm sorry that happened to you. No one should feel unsafe at work. I always carried my school ID card as well as my insurance card (which said what district I worked for). But for me, it IS about being able to afford the extras items at the regular price. I just can't do it. It will be cheaper for me to shop the sales at other stores and hope I can make it through the year with what I get. The kids have to have supplies to do their best work. I don't argue whether this is my job or the parents' job to get the supplies, it is what it is.

 

[Angela&Kayla]

I create my classroom supply list and give it to the main office to distribute. Specific brands aren't requested, yet they always appear on the supply list. When questioned, it came to my attention that since our school offers the school supply packs, the list includes the brand of item included in the pack. So, if I request pencils, my list would say Ticonderoga pencils.

If you are unsure the reason for a specific request, ask! I felt really bad when I heard how many families struggled to find the specific headphones listed on my supply list.

 

[Zhoen]

I have never sent back anything that wasn't the requested brand. I do use up all the good stuff first and the less quality stuff is used when that runs out. We were using Dollar tree markers the last 6 weeks of school. The kids just had to deal with it, as I didn't have any more money to spend to replace them.

And see, that makes PERFECT sense... like when the kids gobble all the "good" halloween candy first, and save the weird dregs candy for last... when folks do that, it's fine... it's the comments on here from people who say they "never" use the other brands that I think had people up-in-arms. Nobody likes to hear that what they provided (and sometimes those brands are all people can manage) is getting just thrown away because of someone else's preferences...

Ironically enough, a woman who was loading up on "the specials" at Target this morning told me I "must be a teacher, too!" So there's one teacher who doesn't mind the generics, because she was going to town on those 24/$1 pencils and $.25 white school glue.

 

[Grammyof2]

I home school so we don't really have a list. My nephews list includes 4 tennis balls for his chair so the floors aren't scratched. This was the first time I ever saw that on a list but since then have heard a few friends mention it. I thought that was odd.