If you think you spend a lot on curric

[YLVD]

When my son was in PS, we attended school board meetings and PTO monthly and volunteered heavily. Our school system runs a very tight ship if you look at operating expenses, salaries, etc. Every penny is accounted for and used. I understood the system after that and the fund raising and the list of supplies (that approached no where near $600), made perfect sense in that context. I don't doubt there is waste in the system, but I see many people saying that without ever having had looked at a budget for a school system. Our 2 years in PS opened my eyes. I am very sympathetic to teachers spending their own money to cover suppliers in the classroom. There are many parents in the system that are not invested in the success of their child's school. And we were at a high achieving, relatively affluent school.

 

 

 

We have friends that attend private schools that cost 10 to 20K. Their fund raising and supply lists demands are actually worse than the PS. Some of the fund raisers they run are SO extravagant and over the top.

 

I don't miss the days of buying a list of supplies. But on the other hand, if I were going to use the school system again (which could happen), I will expect to support it. Even in ways that don't feel like they're just for my own child.

 

I agree that, $600 does seem ridiculous. Especially for 2 or 3 kids. for 8 kids maybe - yep, seems about right. Love to see what's on that list. But without that list, it's hard to know the full story there.

 

:iagree:

 

My DD was in public school and I had very little money at the time. I still felt that it was right for me, and for all of us, to support the school system and the children in it.

 

I'm a liberal though and believe that so much more needs to be done to take care and fully fund schools. Also, without those supplies, the teachers have to pay out of pocket often times.

Edited August 15, 2011 by YLVD

[Tammyla]

That sounds pretty close to some of our local lists. Crazy...

 

I just got done talking to a friend whose child attends public school. Around here you get a list of what your child needs to bring to school. They normally come sometime in the summer with the schedule letters.

 

My friend spent 600 dollars on classroom supplies and that's not even clothes shopping. That was the list, which had things on it like 6 packs of post it notes, how many folders, notebooks, packs of pencils, tissues. INSANE.

 

I told her she should have torn the list up and sent it back in an envelope.

[Nestof3]

Yea... I am of a mind though that if *I* have to buy it then *I* get to decide what to buy. They can provide suggestions but ultimately it is my dime. If I want a Trapper Keeper then I will get one. The teachers can answer to me at that point.

 

Like I said though, I am very much a rebel and I will want to do exactly what they tell me not to. :D Thus the reason I homeschool! :)

 

I'm very much like you. I loved Trapper Keepers when I was young. I was a nerd who loved school supplies. I had some at home. I was very into a variety of pens, folders, notebooks, etc. I loved by box of 96 Crayons. I cannot imagine telling my kids they can only have 8 or 12 at school. ugh

 

Thus, I homeschool!

[YLVD]

I'm more of the mindset that we pay taxes to allow education to be accessible to everyone. The thought that taxes should cover everything down to the pencils our children write with is ludicrous to me. Even parents who may $20,000 a year for private school still have to buy supplies.

 

The amount each family pays for public education by way of taxes is still far lower than the cost of education each child receives. The same is true of Medicare -- nearly everyone will receive more in benefits than they paid in -- much, much more.

 

Could the tax money be better managed? I'm sure it could. But, I think parents are getting off quite easy even if they spend $200 a year on school supplies. Children just cost money. My grandparents were quite poor, but they never grumbled at having to supply their children with school supplies. They accepted it as part of parenting. They were also content with far less than many people I know today who complain about the amount they have to spend on school supplies while finding enough money for a Wii, Gameboy, cigarettes and smart phones. Perhaps some people just have their priorities askew.

 

:iagree:

 

Very well said!

[Nestof3]

School lunch prices are incredibly cheap in our district.

 

Here's the menu:

http://www.vbschools.com/food_services/menus/06Elem.pdf

 

$2.15 for lunch. What a bargain!

[YLVD]

What about all of the fees?

 

School fees: Wide gap among districts (Chicago Tribune, August 5, 2011)

 

We honestly never spent much in fees. I live in an area with stellar and highly funded public schools. Many of the afterschool programs were even offered at no cost!

[YLVD]

School lunch prices are incredibly cheap in our district.

 

Here's the menu:

http://www.vbschools.com/food_services/menus/06Elem.pdf

 

$2.15 for lunch. What a bargain!

 

That is good! For high school, it's about $3.50 here for lunch.

[ravinlunachick]

School lunch prices are incredibly cheap in our district.

 

Here's the menu:

http://www.vbschools.com/food_services/menus/06Elem.pdf

 

$2.15 for lunch. What a bargain!

 

Not if you have multiple kids! If I were paying for all 3 of mine to eat breakfast and lunch at our public schools, it would be $180/month!! ($3/day times 3 kids times 20 days)

 

I don't know how people with more than one kid do it. I only have one kid in public school, and we are planning to pack his lunch because we can think of a lot better ways to spend $60/month.

[LibraryLover]

We honestly never spent much in fees. I live in an area with stellar and highly funded public schools. Many of the afterschool programs were even offered at no cost!

 

 

Fees here can be waived with a call to the principal. You don't have to prove income. More people do pay than not, however. Fees are also reduced depending on the number of childrenin a family. If you have multiple children in music or a sport, the frist is $100, the next $50, all the way down to no fee for the younger children. Most of the folks who send their kids to the one local high school do value these programs, so they do want to contribute what taxes can't easily pay, given the needs and the current economy. We grumble a little at times, but we also know that music, theater, art, sports etc are extras , make no money for the school, and do cost. We don't have book, lab or AP fees. We do have to pay for the AP tests, but the guidance office will waive this if a child or parent asks.

 

I did just pay $30 to have a theater costume dry cleaned. My child was done with it, and it would be needed by another student this year. I thought of it as a rental fee. ;) If I couldn't pay that, I would have returned the costume neatly on a hanger with a note that it had not be cleaned. That would have been the end of it.

 

I do think it is sort of crazy that this $ort of thing is so varied in school districts across the country.

Edited August 15, 2011 by LibraryLover

[Impish]

Neither myself nor my kids have ever attended a ps that had breakfast/lunch, with the exception of a pizza day or similar once a month that you had to preorder for.

 

Heck, I can't think of an elementary school that has a caf.

[YLVD]

Neither myself nor my kids have ever attended a ps that had breakfast/lunch, with the exception of a pizza day or similar once a month that you had to preorder for.

 

Heck, I can't think of an elementary school that has a caf.

 

Oh wow! I didn't realize that there were public schools without them!

 

My DD went to a small public school in a great area and her school had an awesome salad bar!

[Impish]

Oh wow! I didn't realize that there were public schools without them!

 

My DD went to a small public school in a great area and her school had an awesome salad bar!

From what I've heard, caf in elementary are far more the exception than the rule in Canada.

[beaners]

We were not allowed Trapper Keepers either. I think it's the Velcro noise or something.

 

For us, in the younger grades, I think it was the extra size. It was very tight to fit all of the notebooks and textbooks in the little desks.

[Nestof3]

Not if you have multiple kids! If I were paying for all 3 of mine to eat breakfast and lunch at our public schools, it would be $180/month!! ($3/day times 3 kids times 20 days)

 

I don't know how people with more than one kid do it. I only have one kid in public school, and we are planning to pack his lunc

 

That's why you can always send lunch with your child. Like I said, kids cost money. Just because you multiply the cost of lunch times three doesn't make the lunch any more expensive. Everything is going to be more expensive if you have three rather than one child. Either way you look at it, $2.15 is cheap for someone else to prepare your lunch. How often do you get that kind of meal at a restaurant for $2.15?

Edited August 15, 2011 by nestof3

[Mynyel]

Great, leaping cats!!! 10 dozen....good gravy, some school official deserves a complete SMACK DOWN for that.

 

See, it's a really, really good thing I homeschool because there is just no way I would put up with this crap.

 

Faith

 

:iagree::iagree:

[Julie Smith]

From what I've heard, caf in elementary are far more the exception than the rule in Canada.

 

I have been inside several elementary schools in Ontario. My SIL has been in several others. I have never heard of a elementary school in Ontario with a caf.

[sleepymommy]

That's why you can always send lunch with your child. Like I said, kids cost money. Just because you multiply the cost of lunch times three doesn't make the lunch any more expensive. Everything is going to be more expensive if you have three rather than one child. Either way you look at it, $2.15 is cheap for someone else to prepare your lunch. How often do you get that kind of meal at a restaurant for $2.15?

 

:iagree:

 

Around here a family of 3 would qualify for a reduced lunch fee of 40 CENTS if the annual income is no more than $34,281. Otherwise, breakfast would cost $1.50 and lunch would be $2.65. Even if you didn't buy lunch everyday, doing so a couple days a week would still be a relatively low expense.

[HollyM]

School, we had our own supplies in a school box.

 

Yep, and if you lost it, your parents were not too sympathetic about it but never expected the teacher to pony up the items for you.

 

My son attended a PS Kindy for 1 week - one of the supplies listed was coffee filters. I assumed it was for some type of project so asked the teacher what type (bleached, non-bleached, etc.) and she said, "Oh, whatever kind fits a standard coffee machine. They're for the teacher break room."

 

:eek::eek::eek:

Edited August 15, 2011 by HollyM

[HollyM]

I visited my son's cafeteria during the week he was in kindergarten. Lunch was 2.75 and the only thing edible (without having to worry about upchucking) was the milk and a piece of fresh fruit.

 

The public schools sometimes have the lunches made by companies who cut costs (to the extent that we are hearing about mass illnesses now every year from a cafeteria lunch as a matter of course in this country) and are, well, just nasty in some places. :ack2:

 

This study indicates that some schools don't ever have their cafeterias inspected. In other words, they operate at lower standards than a McDonald's. Yuck! http://www.cspinet.org/new/pdf/makingthegrade.pdf

[justamouse]

What about all of the fees?

 

School fees: Wide gap among districts (Chicago Tribune, August 5, 2011)

:iagree::iagree:

[HollyM]

Someone upstream mentioned fundraising. When we lived in a suburb of Atlanta, the kindergartners were even sent out with product catalogues to sell things for fundraising for the school.

 

Really, they encouraged 5 year olds to go knock on doors to sell things. This is not a joke.

 

Every single year of elementary school the kids were going around to neighbors pushing the most useless of items and the school called it "building character." I called it really poor money management on the school district's part as well as what could be considered criminal behavior asking children that young to knock on the doors of strangers to sell things. :thumbdown:

[Audrey]

From what I've heard, caf in elementary are far more the exception than the rule in Canada.

 

 

None I know of around here have them. We do, however, have a hot lunch at our local school everyday that is paid for by the community foundation and made by foundation volunteers. The kids do have to sign up for it (so we know how many lunches are needed) but it is free. Apparently, this has been a program for forever and a day. Even my FIL remembers this when he was a kid.

[ThatCyndiGirl]

http://www.chicagonow.com/life-as-i-see-it/2011/07/hey-cps-any-room-left-in-the-dumpster-for-the-bad-apples/

 

:glare:

[Lang Syne Boardie]

http://www.chicagonow.com/life-as-i-see-it/2011/07/hey-cps-any-room-left-in-the-dumpster-for-the-bad-apples/

 

:glare:

 

What an infuriating disgrace! I followed the link to the news story, which has a little more information about what exactly they wasted:

 

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/investigative/northwest-middle-school-dumps-thousands-unused-school-supplies-20110721

 

I've heard of people who thought 'tidying up' meant 'throw it all away, you lazy jerk,' but none of those people were adults.

[GoVanGogh]

What an infuriating disgrace! I followed the link to the news story, which has a little more information about what exactly they wasted:

 

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news...plies-20110721

I posted up-thread about that happening on an annual basis at our local school. :glare:

It infuriates me to no end! I also find it ironic that they are pushing environmentalism down the children's throats so kids are scared to throw away an old newspaper, yet the administrators are DUMPING perfectly good school supplies! (And please don't jump on me for my comment about environmentalism. I've been one since the '70s. I just don't like the way it is preached in school.)

Even if the person questioned in the news story couldn't find another school to give it to, could they not have called a local charity? I'm sure many charities with resale shops would have loved to have had a chance to pick it up and sell it.

[GoVanGogh]

Just thought of another thing re: school supplies and wastefulness.

Our school district posts the things they are auctioning off with a local auction house, as do many of the districts in this area. I am always shocked at what they are getting rid of. Last year, they were auctioning off something like 50 pallets of copy paper. Starting bid for a pallet was $20. :001_huh: Does paper go out of date? Not compatible with new printers/copiers? Why would they not need the copy paper somewhere in the school district? Yet they ask that every child bring in a ream of copy paper every fall.

[Julie Smith]

Even if the person questioned in the news story couldn't find another school to give it to, could they not have called a local charity? I'm sure many charities with resale shops would have loved to have had a chance to pick it up and sell it.

 

I'm sure a charity would have wanted it, so they could give them to students to bring back to school. :glare:

[Impish]

I have been inside several elementary schools in Ontario. My SIL has been in several others. I have never heard of a elementary school in Ontario with a caf.

I grew up in ON, and my eldest went to ps there. I've never heard of it there or here in AB, but since I don't know every school, I didn't want to say that they don't exist at all in Canada :lol:

None I know of around here have them. We do, however, have a hot lunch at our local school everyday that is paid for by the community foundation and made by foundation volunteers. The kids do have to sign up for it (so we know how many lunches are needed) but it is free. Apparently, this has been a program for forever and a day. Even my FIL remembers this when he was a kid.

None of the schools in my experience have this at all.

[HollyM]

I also just wanted to mention that I do not think the supply list dilemma is the fault of the teachers at all. The schools have become underfunded & mismanaged for many reasons, all complicated and all part of the multitude of reasons why we chose to home school vs. using the local public schools.

 

What has been passing as "the norm" in regard to the costs passed on to parents for collective school supplies, fundraising, textbooks, and the like is becoming increasingly disturbing and, what I view, an obvious symptom of a very broken system.

 

I don't have a fix for it, that is going to take an overhaul of our entire educational system in my opinion.

[justamouse]

http://www.chicagonow.com/life-as-i-see-it/2011/07/hey-cps-any-room-left-in-the-dumpster-for-the-bad-apples/

 

:glare:

 

I'm speechless.

[Julie Smith]

I grew up in ON, and my eldest went to ps there. I've never heard of it there or here in AB, but since I don't know every school, I didn't want to say that they don't exist at all in Canada :lol:

 

None of the schools in my experience have this at all.

 

Now I'm curious. When googling I basically can't find reference to any elementary school cafeteria in Canada.

[katilac]

I wish crayola sold single color packs for popular colors. I think I could never buy another brown, orange, or yellow marker again, but DD probably goes through 8 green ones in a single year. Same with crayons.

 

They do! And not even just massive "group" amounts - you can get packs of 12. You won't find them at Wal-mart and such; try a school store, art store, or online.

[swellmomma]

Neither myself nor my kids have ever attended a ps that had breakfast/lunch, with the exception of a pizza day or similar once a month that you had to preorder for.

 

Heck, I can't think of an elementary school that has a caf.

 

The school I worked at last year had a hot lunch program 3 days a week. It was $60 per child to get the lunch T, W, & TH. Mondays and Fridays parents still had to send a lunch. They ate in their classrooms, no lunch room.

 

Other than that I have never worked in or been in a school with a lunch program. The elementary school my kids went to, did not have a proper caf, they used the drama room as a lunch room for the gr 1-3kids. It had a microwave in it so you could send leftovers and reheat. BUT each grade had a designated microwave day. So my kids could not both have microwave lunches on the same day because they were in different grades. Because all the kids ate together the banned foods due to allergies was high. Once in grade 4 they ate in their classrooms. Which is where we ate our lunches all through gr1-9 where I attended school. In high school we mostly ate in teh hallways. We had a cafeteria but we were only allowed to stay in it for 20 minutes tops (including the time we spent in line waiting to buy our deep fried food-it was all they sold). Eating in the hallway let us socialize with our friends while we ate, and we could eat slower instead of being forced to inhale it.

 

The junior high school I looked at for ds next year had a "breakfast" program. Kids who did not eat breakfast at home could grab a pop tart or granola bar from the office.

[swellmomma]

What an infuriating disgrace! I followed the link to the news story, which has a little more information about what exactly they wasted:

 

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/investigative/northwest-middle-school-dumps-thousands-unused-school-supplies-20110721

 

I've heard of people who thought 'tidying up' meant 'throw it all away, you lazy jerk,' but none of those people were adults.

 

Good grief. Makes me want to go dumpster diving. I could put all those materials to good use here and in the daycares/preschools I work with.

[historically accurate]

They do! And not even just massive "group" amounts - you can get packs of 12. You won't find them at Wal-mart and such; try a school store, art store, or online.

 

Amazon has them.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Crayola-Regular-Crayon-Single-Refill/dp/B0044SCOSA

[8circles]

What an infuriating disgrace! I followed the link to the news story, which has a little more information about what exactly they wasted:

 

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/investigative/northwest-middle-school-dumps-thousands-unused-school-supplies-20110721

 

I've heard of people who thought 'tidying up' meant 'throw it all away, you lazy jerk,' but none of those people were adults.

 

I want to say "unbelievable" but it really isn't. :mad:

 

My oldest was in PS for the first half of K. During that time I was very involved with the PTO. I was disgusted by the way things were run. Our supply lists were generous but I didn't think they were outrageous. I didn't think it should have been our job to supply the cleaning supplies but I bit my tongue.

 

Having heard *everywhere about teachers spending so much of their own money on supplies for the classrooms I was really pleased when the PTO asked the teachers how much additional money they needed at the beginning of the year. The district gives them a certain $ allowance for classroom supplies. The teachers responded that they didn't need anymore money for supplies & that they weren't allowed to disclose how much the district gave them. I was :001_huh: but went along with it. Then the teachers proceeded to ask for things like digital cameras & photo printers for each classroom "because the parents love it when they see pictures of their kids in action at school". They also wanted to replace all the (newer than my own PC & DH & I are IT people) desktop computers in the lab with all new laptops so that they could be wheeled into each classroom when necessary. They needed smartboards in each classroom, even the K rooms, so the kids could do educational games together.

 

But my child couldn't get books in his classroom that were at his reading level because they belonged to another teacher. Parents had to come in to tutor the struggling children because they didn't have enough staff.

 

That same year the schoolboard approved a new K-4 program in our district, complete with busing, despite the fact that 90+% of the kids starting K had gone to a private K-4 & there was no evidence that a K-4 program would improve anything. They were able to do this because "the district would get more funding from the state & our taxes wouldn't go up". Meanwhile, the next district over is almost bankrupt & a friend who teaches there says she barely has enough paper to go around.

 

Its a mess & lots of blame to go around.

[Mom in High Heels]

What an infuriating disgrace! I followed the link to the news story, which has a little more information about what exactly they wasted:

 

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/investigative/northwest-middle-school-dumps-thousands-unused-school-supplies-20110721

 

I've heard of people who thought 'tidying up' meant 'throw it all away, you lazy jerk,' but none of those people were adults.

 

Hundreds of rolls of adhesive tape, at just under $6 a piece, had been dumped, still inside the office depot boxes that were delivered to the school.

.......

The principal said she tossed out the tape because she didn't have the right tape dispensers, which she said cost $70 a piece.

"If I don't have a tape dispenser what do I do with it?"

 

This is probably my favorite bit from the article. Yes, what would you do with all that tape without the proper dispenser? Heaven forbid they have to unroll it and cut it with a pair of scissors! :huh:

 

 

 

Why throw out cases of chalk and erasers?

“Cause everybody uses overhead projectors,†Strojny said. “So we don't use it."

She didn’t know of another school that might have used the chalk and erasers.

 

Wait, wait, wait. There are NO schools in the CPS that use chalk and erasers? I'm finding this really hard to believe. What a joke.

[Nestof3]

And $70 for a tape dispenser? Really?

 

Even if none of it could be used here, I'm sure there are financially struggling schools SOMEWHERE! Oh, wait -- I thought they were financially struggling HERE.

 

This is probably my favorite bit from the article. Yes, what would you do with all that tape without the proper dispenser? Heaven forbid they have to unroll it and cut it with a pair of scissors! :huh:

 

 

 

 

Wait, wait, wait. There are NO schools in the CPS that use chalk and erasers? I'm finding this really hard to believe. What a joke.