Do you think that school lists are getting out of hand?

Question

Take my son's list for Kindergarten, They want two Jumbo pencils with erasers and pencil sharpener. 2 boxes of 8 count Jumbo Crayons. 2 boxes Kleenex, 1 box both quart size and gallon size Ziplocks, 1 pair Friskars brand scissors, 2 large erasers 1 completely clear zippered pensil bag, 2 large elmer glue, 1 pkg washable markers, 2 pkg construction paper size 9x12, on pkg construction paper 11x18, 2 pkg manilla paper, 1 school box, 1 container clorox wipes, $5.00 for art supplies.

Every year the school budget is printed in the newspaper and every year you see where teacher's make more money than my family does. Our gym/history teacher made 90K last year. None of the teachers start with a salary less than 36K a year. they claim they make no money. The school gets bigger and bigger grants each year. Yet they can't afford to place paper towels and clorox in the class rooms for teachers to use to clean with. I don't mind the scissors, glue, markers and crayons. But why must i buy a specific brand, when i can spend $1 to $2 less for something just as good. And why do they need 5 pkg total of colored paper. I could have picked up 2 boxes of 24 count crayons for 20 cents each, instead they want two $2.12 box of crayons. a box of 24 regular pencils for $1.50 vs a pkg of two Jumbo pencils for $2.88.

When i went to school. Just because teachers make the dough to buy name brand products and the school is getting so cheap they cant buy paper towels and clorox does not mean that parents who barely make it by can afford it.

I spent a total of a little over $300 on school supplies and clothes for both my children. Their shoes cost $15 each. I got them 4 outfits. My sons shirts where $2.50 each his shorts where $3.00 each. My daughters outfits where off the 40% rack. The listed price was $4.50 for three and $8.00 for one, so they where cheaper than listed. Needless to say out of the $300-odd dollars, less than $75 went to clothes. Children are required to go to school even if parents cant affordit. If teachers 20 years ago could make it with a list of 7-10 items, then teachers today can do the same.

Answer 1

First of all it is quite a bit different when you are buying supplies for 30 kids vs. 1 kid. I will not be buying supplies for my entire class. parents don't think about this when they complain. Also, last year I did buy calculators for the kids out of my own money and they broke them. This year I bought them but parents have to buy them from me for $1 or provide their own. When supplies are provided either by the school or by the teacher, students do not seem to value them. They break things or use then up quickly. If parents have to buy the supplies, students will put more thought into how they use the supplies. And, btw, I have a student in the school system (most teachers will) and we also have to buy the supplies for our own children.

Answer 2

The list itself isn't ridiculous. It's the fact that EVERY child is going to have to bring in the 2 boxes of Kleenex, the Ziploc bags, the Clorox wipes, etc. All that "extra" stuff that is going to be used by the entire class, and not just your child. There is always extra stuff leftover at the end of the year. I would guess there are probably 20-25 kids in his class? So who needs 40-50 boxes of Kleenex? The thing is, they should be asking you to bring in only what your son is going to use. I can guarantee your son will not use up 2 whole boxes of Kleenex or Clorox wipes. Just like everything else, they need to ask the kids to bring in only what they are going to use. Give him his own box of Kleenex and if he happens to run out, *then* buy him some more. But this whole thing of "well let's just have each kid bring in 2 so that way we definitely won't run out" is just insane.

Answer 3

Congratulations on your bargains! Get what best suits your budget. Did you know that most of the supplies that teachers require their students to purchase never gets used! I would wait a week or two before purchasing anything for your child. That will give you a better idea of what they will need and won't need.

(I believe the jumbo crayons are for smaller hands). :o)

Answer 4

thats a pretty demanding school list. maybe you could talk to the teacher about what the bare essentials are and maybe youre kid could get by with those.

also, i dont know where you live, but im in utah usa.. my moms a teacher, and she makes absolutely no money. i think its about $35,000 a year. and all of the supplies she buys is pretty much out of pocket.

i dont think its fare because teachers are the basis of society. think of where we would be without them.. and great teachers are paid just as much as horrible teachers.

plus the retirement money has gone down a substantial amount.

so to answer your question, the school supply list is very large and maybe you need to discuss it with the teacher.. but teachers are just trying their best to educate and take care of these kids futures. ive seen the other side of the system and how hard most of these teachers work. its more than just a job for most of them :]

ps i wasnt trying to be arrogant in my answer, i was just presenting another side

Answer 5

I agree. Most of the stuff they require you to get is  a certain brand, and they want a certain amount also. Most of the stuff they want does not come in that amount so you have to pay $2 more for something you dont even need. I am lucky this year though because we moved and my son switched schools so they just ask for $15 for school supplies and they get them. $15 seems reasonable to me. But before at his other school it was ridiculous, and if you wait too long then they are out of half the stuff they need. I think all schools (at least elementary) should just require a small $15 fee and they provide everything they need.  

Answer 6

i totally hear u.

being a sec master teacher of many years i dotn know where yr teaching but i wish i made 90K after 9 years of teaching

i also have family , we live on my salary husband just got laid off.

here's how they argue it.

i think that school supplies like colored paper and equipment should be from the school.

parents can help out with their childs pencils but should not have to buy multiple packs- that is what the school district gives each school money for  and there are budgets for each dept.  a box of tissues per kid in the school is nice-  i dont care what brand they are also long as my kids wipe their noses.

so u need to ask how are the school s spendign their money = on administrators? or learnign  resrouces, or trainign teachers to be better? many teachers who themselves are on low income buy things out of their pocket-  for us it hs been tough when u are told that the math dept has 500  dollars to last them the whole year- including prof development- which is 100 a day per person. so in a dept like us of 8 we just pay out of our pocket.

i work on minimum  in the classroom.  but kids need paper and pencils and files- there are a lot more parents who cant rpovide for thier kids. ive given out at least15 files numerous pencils  and paper in the firstweek of school.

more people are hurting  in many ways.

we all do what we can....