Monday
Aug222011
Who Should Pay for School Supplies?
Monday, August 22, 2011 
At this time of year, most parents are rushing around in a frantic panic searching for each and every item on their child's school supply list. If your lists are anything like mine, they include a combination of the usual (24 pencils, sharpened), the overly specific (1" white binder with pockets), and the unusual (travel chess game). If your shopping experience is anything like mine, it includes hitting the big stores to cross most items off the list while swearing about a lack of labeling of toxic ingredients (or absence thereof), and then spending way too long looking for the final elusive items (dollar stores do not carry bingo chips anymore, they only have dabbers).Then there is the expense. It is an expense that we are, fortunately, able to manage even if it is not always easy and does end up blowing our monthly budget. However, it is an expense, not to mention waste of time, that I resent. I think that it would be much more cost and time effective if the materials were bought in bulk, instead of having each family pay retail prices and go through the long frustrating search for those hard to find items. There are some services, like Best Tools for Schools, that allow parents to take advantage of such bulk buying, but they are not available everywhere yet. Plus there is, of course, the fact that not all parents are able to afford the long list of school supplies that are requested by the schools.
The Ottawa Citizen had an interesting article today on that topic called The dilemma of paying for school essentials. The article focused on an Ontario Ministry of Education guideline that was released in March. The guideline indicated that all fees for items that are essential for a child to succeed in school are voluntary this year. That means that parents do not have to pay for things like pencils, paper, textbooks, mandatory guest speakers, and other items that are required. This is part of a move towards ensuring that public schools are completely public institutions.
The change in policy could be helpful to families that are struggling financially. However, there is concern that even middle to upper class families will opt not to buy school supplies because it is voluntary. Ultimately, this could put a lot of pressure on school boards that are already strapped for cash. There are concerns that a lot of teachers will end up paying for even more supplies out of pocket than they already do.
The Ottawa Citizen quoted Annie Kidder, the executive director of People for Education, who noted that "The problem is really the basic question - shouldn't our taxes be paying for all of the things we do in the schools?" That is a good question and I think she is right on track. In a public school system, I don't think parents should be required to pay any fees or purchase any supplies for their child's basic education. I also think that a lot of time and money could be saved if the required school supplies were purchased in bulk by the school board (or a contractor on their behalf), rather than by each individual family.
What is your school supply list like this year? Do you wish the school was taking care of it for you?
Image credit: Merelymel13 on flickr
Reader Comments (61)
This year was my first as a school-parent. While I was initially excited that the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) offered to purchase school supplies in bulk so that parents could get a reduced price on most of the items on the kindergarten list, I found that I could get some of the items up to $1-2 cheaper around town! I tallied up our school supply spending right before school started and found that we "only" saved $3 or $4 by not going with the bulk supplies...but still!
I will say, however, that the PTO did a great job by 1) disclosing the cost of each individual item and 2) offering mini "scholarships" to those parents who might not otherwise have been able to afford the supplies. Of course, I wish that parents (and teachers) didn't have to foot the bill for many of these supplies, but I'm grateful that the PTO could step in and "fill in the gaps" with organization and additional funding where needed.
We live in a high-tax area and yet programs are cut left and right, teacher salaries are too low, and we have to buy an absurd amount of supplies not just for our kids, but for general classroom use:
Oh, and the PTO sold packs of supplies as a fundraiser but no one notified us in time so parents new to the district had no way of knowing.
Plus the teacher just requested another item after I bought everything.
As a teacher from Ontario I see both sides of this. I have worked in a school where my every whim was paid for because the neigbourhood was upper middle class (I was reimbursed for everything I asked for, even the stickers I bought, though I didn't submit my own supplies like pens) and the parents got together to provide a sum for each teacher to spend on the classroom as they saw fit. I also worked at a school that was so low on the socio-economic scale that no one brought in anything and the supply room was so bare that I had to have my mother smuggle home supplies from her school just so that I could do art activities. In the 8 years I have been teaching, I have easily spent more than $10,000 on things for the classroom.
This year I am at a school that is in the happy middle. I only asked the kids to bring in a box of Kleenex and the $3.00 for their agenda, and most of them are in the process of doing so. They also brought in crayone and markers and basically what their parents wanted them to have. The supply room is stocked with crayons, pencils, erasers, glue sticks, and pens, and things like markers and Post-its for the teachers as well. When my CD player broke I was told to buy a new one and I would be reimbursed. There is no need to hoard supplies because more are ordered throughout the year. Yet, this area is not an area with a lot of money. I just think our principal manages his money well.
There are schools that desperately need the parents to buy supplies. There are schools that find it superfluous. Most, however, are in the middle. It's nice, but it's not mandatory.
I will say one thing, though. I went through over 500 pencils last year - before Christmas. If your child is past grade 3, your teacher would love it if your made sure their pencil case remained stocked. This year I'm primary and the pencils don't seem to be evaporating.
[...] 6. I don’t have to pay for school supplies. When my daughter attended Kindergarten at public school in the town we lived in before we moved here, we didn’t have to pay for any school supplies. The school district in that town passed a motion that the district would pay for all essential supplies as a part of a move towards ensuring that public schools are accessible to people from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Now that we live in Victoria, we have to pay for school supplies like everyone else, which is fine, but I do enjoy saving my money and reusing the crayons we’ve had for years that still work just fine thank you while everyone else is out buying 12 new HB pencils when they have a junk drawer full of them already. This is a controversial issue and Annie at PhD in Parenting did a nice job of putting it forward here. [...]
My son is too young to be in school, so I'm going on hearsay for this, but one of the big complaints I hear from parents isn't that they have to buy school supplies, but that they have to buy *particular* supplies. One of my co-workers showed me the list her school gave her and it had things like "1 yellow binder, 1 green binder, 1 blue binder..." The reasoning being so that the kids knew which one they were supposed to be using in each class, as though labels wouldn't do the trick (her kids are 8 and 10).
This practice forces parents to buy new every year, even if what was leftover from last year is still perfectly good.
When I was growing up, we didn't have lists. The only requirement was that kids have something to write with and something to write on, everything else was up to the parent and the kid to do in a way that suited them best. So since I've always been a fanatic for organization, I had my tabbed binders. Other kids just had folders they stuffed everything into. All of us used the same tools for years until they just got too shabby, and only then would we buy new. As for pencils, we used them until they were too hard to hold any more.
Oh my gosh people--get a grip on things. In this country there are ample people who feel the school should provide supplies, milk, lunches, breakfasts, books, field trips--all for free. I agree that taxes should cover things but only because we are taxed to death in this country. A better soultion would be if everyone just payed for themselves and their kids. Don't have kids if you can't afford to supply them with the things necessary to get by in life! I totally believe helping folks in a pinch--but that just isn't enough for people anymore. They demand that everything be provided to them by the state or by the other tax payers. How many of the people crying for the state, federal government, or the school pay for everything are even actually paying taxes. My husband makes decent money, works 14 hours a day, drives over 2 hrs every day to and from work, so he can provide for myself and his three children. We pay a bunch of taxes, pay for all of our own schooling, we don't use the bus system because I drive my kids to and from school but my taxes go to pay for that, pay for our own luches and breakfasts while others get free food everyday, buy our own supplies and don't ask for, whine for, or demand that someone else pay for us!!!!! Why should my family sacrifice to try to get ahead and then end up paying that money for people who sit around and think the government should pay for everything. Why don't you people give your kids away if you don't want to pay anything for their care! While I, myself, have helped people in tough situations, I would not support someone who doesn't care to go out and try to take care of themselves and their children.
If you think the answer is to 'hand over' the responsibility to the school to buy a few pencils and some glue then I think this country is already gone!!!! What kind of a parent can't afford pencils, paper, glue and can't make the time to run out and get it at the store one time per year for the education of THEIR kids. Sad, sad, sad. If you want to lose your freedoms, then by all means push every conceivable responsibility on to someone else. But if you are a responsible self-supporting individual who values your freedom, then get off your duff and take care of your responsibilities. I'd rather take care of myself and my family myself. I don't need a government agency getting my kid's pencils and papers. People--grab your independence, your self sufficiency, and your pride and do your jobs as parents, partiots, and good neighbors. It makes me so sad and so worried about what kid of world my kids will inherit. We have the spirit to take care of ourselves. If we can do that, then this country will be in a much better place. Please, everone, be responsible for yourself and help you neighbor if necessary but don't let yourself become dependent on someone else for everything. It places you in a very vulnerable postion and takes away your freedoms to choose. God Bless.
Can't believe this! Why do parents in the US complain about having to pay a few $$ for supplies.
In Australia, the average 'back to school' cost each year ranges from $300-$1000 per child depending on age. For books, sundries fees and uniforms. But very few complain. Every child has their own text books - if you are lucky, you can hand them down to younger siblings but invariably they change the list each year and incorporate a new edition of most books. Australian don't have a phobia about paying a little for their childrens' education. As for the 'free lunch' - unheard of. Every year we visit the US at around 'back to school' time. My friends all have the last minute rush for their childrens' supplies (they have all summer but it's always the last minute) and I'm always intrigued at the ritual of buying them a new backpack every year - bring back the 'school bag' which, in my children's case, lasted from K-6 then was upsized for 7-12.
I'm not in the US and wasn't talking about the US (although some of the commenters were).
Perhaps Australians in your area have more money than Americans do?
As to waiting until the last minute to shop...we only have access to good sales for school supplies when the stores get their back-to-school merchandise out. I did my shopping yesterday - much of the merchandisers were out but had not been filled yet - read: they don't have all of their stock out on the floor yet. Our school year begins in 3 weeks - so, I would do it earlier if I could have access to the sales earlier (the price differences are substantial...a 50 cent box of crayolas at back-to-school time will cost $3 any other time of year...a 17 cent notebook will cost $1.50, etc. - so you can see why we have to wait until the sales).
This year, in addition to shopping for my own 3 children (we homeschool), I was also trying to pick up school supplies for my two nieces who live out of state. Their grandparents are raising them, are on a fixed income, etc., and the truth is, that the oldest of the two nieces is starting middle school this year and if I did not make it a point to school shop for her, she would not start school with the things she needs (as their biological parents don't contribute a single dime to any of their daughters' life expenses..). I'm not going to let her start middle school having to feel embarassed for not having the clothes/supplies she needs....but shopping off of her school supply list...gah! It's obvious the parents are being asked to buy office supplies for the staff, as well as cleaning supplies, as well as extra supplies for other kids...I mean, one of the items listed is 4 five packs of glue sticks. What 6th grader needs 20 glue sticks for one school year?!! My 3 children combined don't use more than a handful all year, and they have far more time to work on projects that require glue than my public-schooled niece does, that's for sure.
So, it's not that people are complaining about buying ANYTHING...it's the fact that what is expected from the public schools in many cases goes far and beyond true "school" supplies. When my children were in public school, we were asked to bring in THREE boxes of kleenex each...for a classroom of 27 kids...really?..81 boxes of kleenex for a classroom? Do the students do *nothing* but sit around picking their noses with kleenex all day? Our teachers NEVER had things like boxes of Kleenex in the classroom (Southern California public schools in the 1980's...), and we certainly didn't have Clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, etc. We had a sink with powdered soap, and a janitor probably wiped down our desks a few times a year. I admit these things are nice to have...but is it REALLY necessary to ask each student to bring in TWO LARGE bottles of hand sanitizer?...teachers need 54 large bottles of hand sanitizer every year? Two containers of clorox wipes....one classroom needs 54 containers of clorox wipes per year? There are 80 wipes per container = 4320 wipes / 170 school days = 25 wipes PER DAY? REALLY?!! In ONE classroom? I don't think so.
This, I think, is where most parents begin having issues with the supply lists. We can see providing pencils, crayons, notebook paper, glue sticks, etc. But when it comes to crazy excessive amounts of these supplies added to the huge amounts of office & cleaning supplies they are telling parents to buy, parents really start to wonder. I know I did.
Now I pay for ALL of my children's curriculum materials and educational supplies, and I'm fine with that because I know the money is being spent as effectively and as wisely as it can possibly be...it is spent in the ways that BEST support my childrens' educations. I also pay property taxes so I'm supporting local public schools, as well. But shopping for my nieces' very specific lists (ie: *Avery* tab dividers - we can't buy the Office Depot brand? Really? They're exactly the same and cost a little bit less, but we have to buy essentially, what the *teacher* wants in her classroom, as opposed to what would be the smarter buy - and the office depot dividers are not of lower quality than Avery, I have used both repeatedly)., really made me feel like the teachers were asking, inappropriately, for excessive amounts of supplies that should already be supplied by the school itself (office/cleaning supplies).
I have read the comments on this thread, as I am currently researching if it is economical for parents to buy school supplies vs. the district using it's limited monies to pay for things that cost 10 cents on sale in the Back to School ads. BTW, bulk ordering is more costly than bargain shopping. I think one of the biggest points to consider is there is nothing "free" in education. Many children in schools live in rental property, meaning their parents DON'T pay property tax. So consider the $50 you spend on supplies your "tax" contribution. School money should go to items parents/tax payers can't provide as individuals, i.e. desks, flooring, paint and staffing.
Also, in terms of the "hassle" that it is for parents to to gather these supplies, maybe you should instead see it as an opportunity to teach kids how to add money, subtract money, calculate sales tax before they get to the register.