Monday, 10 August 2009
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Back To School Supply List Unacceptable
I was shocked to read the back to school supply list for my daughter this year. She is going into first grade and I expected a short list of items that I would need to buy. What I got, was a list of items that angered me. I understand that the budget for schools has been decreased, but it is not fair that parents are expected to make up for it. My daughter attends a public school that also has a uniform dress code. This means that I have to buy supplies and special clothes for her. My son attends a special public school for special needs children and I will not get his list until Open House. I am cringing just thinking about what his list will look like. Here is a copy of my daughter's list:
Required Supplies
5 dozen #2 yellow pencils (I bought 1 pack of ten and will send to school as needed by my child)
4 jumbo glue sticks ((I bought a pkg of small glue sticks and will send to school as needed by my child)
1 pair scissors (yes)
1 roll paper towels (no)
1 pencil box (yes)
1 bottle Elmer’s glue (no)
1 box disinfecting wipes (no)
1 green 2-pocket folder (yes)
1 box quart-sized zip-lock freezer bags (no)
1 box gallon-sized zip-lock freezer bags (no)
2 packs copy paper (500 sheets per pack) (no)
8 packs wide-ruled notebook paper (I bought 2 packs, I will send 1 pack and hold on to the other)
1 pack pencil-top erasers (yes, will send as needed by my child)
3 composition books” 1 blue, 1 green, 1 red (yes)
Addition & Subtraction flash cards - sums to 18 (You might want to buy an extra set of flash cards to keep at home too) (yes)
2 boxes of 24 count crayons (yes, will send 1 box and keep one at home)
5 low order dry erase markers & 1 eraser (or sock) (no)
1 box paper clips (no)
3 boxes Kleenex tissues (no)
1 book bag (no wheels please) (yes)
1 blue 1” 3-ring binder (yes)
1 yellow 2-pocket folder (yes)
1 pk. White card stock (60 pound) (no)
As you can see, I picked the items that I felt were acceptable and bought them. I spent $42. Not too bad, but that doesn't include the $100 I will need to spend on uniforms just to start off the school year. If I bought every item on the supply list, I would have spent over $100. This would have been for just one child. I still do not know what I will have to buy for my son. I shudder to think how much money parents with more than one child to buy for will be spending to get their children ready for school. I am sure I will be spending at least $40 on my son.
My question is, what is the school going to do when I don't send in every item on the list? Do they really expect parents to do this? Do they really think we can afford it? Now remember, it is the required list they are puttin out. The optional supplies list is as follows:
Optional Supplies
Candy (individually wrapped)/small treats for the treat jar
Glitter - gold, silver, or red
1 pk. multi-colored card stock (60 pound)
Electric pencil sharpener
Box of file folders (letter-sized)
Blank CDs and CD cases
6" white paper doilies
Yellow poster board
Red poster board
Flat magnets
Water-based magic markers
Colored Pencils
No, I did not buy anything off of the Optional Supplies list. Who could afford to after buying the required supplies? I didn't buy everything off of the required list, but I still have uniforms to buy. My daughter's teacher is just going to have to understand that the economy is affecting us parents just as badly (if not more) as it is affecting them. If I were homeschooling my children, I would need the supplies listed, but I am not. I think it is ridiculous that parents are being asked to spend so much money for classroom supplies.
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- From: autismlearningfelt
- About Me: I am a WAHM, with two children. My daughter is 5 and my son is 10. My 10 year old son is diagnosed with Autism. I have a home-based business, www.learningfelt.com . Great creative and fun activities with felt for children. This blog is for sharing my experiences raising my son, product reviews, giveaways and sharing whatever items I find and want to share with all my readers. Read more at my blog: http://www.autismlearningfelt.com/
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Comments (668)
that really is a ridiculous supply list. i don't know how they could ask that of parents, especially parents with more than one child. i don't think that's fair at all. Thank you for sharing this.
I agree that that's a ridiculous list; I never had to buy that much for myself when I was in elementary school. It is not the parent's job to pick up the slack. It is the job of the teacher to actually think and work around any money issues that may come up.
Actually my biggest expense is the books... & I spend way more than that buying new, so I don't. As far as supplies go, I buy as needed so it really winds up not much different...
This is a lot of stuff. Whst happen to all u needing is a pencil, markers/color pencils, glue, and a notebook. I hope you shopped at dollar tree and on tax-free weekend. It sounds like this school might need to do a couple of fundraisers. For school I got a couple of notebooks and some pencils...all I need are books.
This is just another example of how the cost of doing business, in this case school supplies, is being passed on to the customer! Everyone should go on strike! Why should we pay the phone company's cost to upgrade their own equipment to serve us better? Why should we pay the electric company for the distribution network that distibutes the electricity? Why should we pay to register our children at a public school when he/she is required by law to be educated?
Well...I suppose if the parents don't do it, the kids have to go without. The teacher can't really pay for everything out of pocket either.
I imagine they probably just put it on the list because they really want parents to contribute if possible (and the school supplies are more important than the "extras" on the optional list). This way is more direct than a fundraiser, which ends up amounting to the same thing as far as I can tell (since most fundraisers end up selling their things back to parents/relatives of children).
But if you can't afford it, you can't afford it --not like they can do anything about it.
wait until you get the college book list *cringe*
but really, some of those items seem extraneous and just, silly. first grade?!
I would be pissed too, yes the schools are getting cuts, but how many people are getting cuts of their own and losing their jobs. Seriously.
I don't remember my supply lists from when I was in first grade but I do for 5th and 6th grade which for me was in the mid 90's. I can tell you that the list you have is almost exactly like the list I had back then. Actually, I could make a couple of substitutions and maybe an addition or two and we'd have my list for those years.
Just so you know, I attended a public school also. Though we didn't have school uniforms.
Frankly, I don't see what you're complaining about.
8 packs of paper??? Seriously? I used 2 and a half packs total for a whole year.
FINALLY, A REAL LIST -___- My younger brother has this list every year and my mom tends to panic about it all the time. I mean, COME ON. We still have all the supplies. And to think my mom was a big saver.
Wow that is ludicrous, the school expects you to supply the classroom with things that should already be there when your child arrives. Paper towels? Tissues? Dry Eraser Board Markers??? That's crazy...it's a public school...your tax dollars are already funding it so why on earth should you have to dish out even more money? If I were you I would write a note to the teacher and tell her that the list was simply unacceptable and you bought for your child what you deemed necessary!
box of Kleenex is typical on a supply list (I remember them from when I was little and I think it's a good thing to have, but that's me). I'd also send my kid with a travel size bottle of hand sanitizer, children are walking germs haha. But yes, that list is too much.
when i was a kid, my parents did not need to buy squat except for the essentials
does one kid really need FIVE dozen pencils?? that's 60 pencils.. i think it took me 2 grade school yrs to use a fresh pencil and sharpen it to the eraser
one pencil, one pen, paper, folder, coloring utensils, backpack.. that's it
My sons are starting preschool through the public school district's special needs program, and their supply lists are similar to that one. And as if having to send things like ziplocks and copy paper isn't irritating enough, I talked to other parents who have children in the same preschool and they told me at the end of the school year, nothing is returned, all supplies are "donated" to the school.
Otherwise the teachers are expected to buy it, and they don't pay the teachers anything. Yeah, it's stupid.
NO WHEELS PLEASE???? they expect a freaking little kid to go into school with THAT many supplies and NO WHEELS PLEASE?? id complain. i have a LOT of back and neck problems. im only 21 and i dont even have scholiosis to complicate things! (like a whole lot of kids out there). blame the bookbags!
i was in first grade note too long ago. we needed, if i remember correctly
1. notebooks
2. the all important book covers (paper bags)
3. crayons
4. pencils
5. 1 box of tissues
6. scissors
7. glue
8. folders
9. backpack
10. ....oh wait, thats it.
Probably already mentioned, but half of those supplies ARE NOT EVEN FOR YOUR DAUGHTER. Does a 1st grader write in composition books? Only ones I used in first grade were with the line guides for handwriting. And will she be writing on wide-ruled notebook paper? Nope. Thats what the 5th graders will be writing on. And to ask parents to provide the class pencil sharpeners and anti-bacterial wipes, dry erase markers and copy paper is just ludicrous. That is something the school is supposed to have written into the budget.
Blank CDs for a first grader?! I didn't even need those in high school.
I can understand the list being frustrating, but I can also understand coming from the teacher's perspective too. These are supplies that most teachers must purchase on their own, and compensation from the school was next to nothing when I was going to school, and that was well before this budget crisis struck. I know where I live the school system lost a lot of money due to budget cuts, and "discretionary" spending was one of the first things to go. While much of that "discretionary" money went to non-essentials, a good portion of it was used to "compensate" the teachers for classroom supplies, like the things listed above. So now teachers are getting even less compensation for things that they have to have in the classroom, if they're getting anything at all. Oh and all state employees, teachers included, just took a massive pay cut due to those same budget cuts.
So yea, it sucks all around, but don't automatically assume that these supplies are things that the schools supply to the teachers, because they don't.
@Liz - but EIGHT packs of wide ruled paper for each kid?? are they planning for nuclear fallout or something? whats going on?
wow that is completely insane!
some of that stuff i dont even use for highschool!! >:[
Are children supposed to stock up for the teacher as well? Paper towels, candy jar treats, COPY PAPER?? What the hell is this world coming to? Or America, at least...I have a 7-month-old, and I hope to God that by the time he's ready to start school, they will have eliminated all paper and everything that goes along with it and have moved on to personal laptops in every school, every grade. In this technologically advanced era, it wouldn't suprise me if it did happen.
Another thing that stood out to me was the request for no rolling backpacks. How will they be expected to carry all that crap on their backs?
I don't know why, but I think the teacher is asking for freezer bags is pretty funny. I don't know what sort of art or science project your kid is going to have to do, but I do not remember having to use ziploc bags for anything except lunch.
actually, the paper towels and kleenex boxes are what teachers ask that the child brings in every school. well mine did, i live in new york. during my elementary school days, these two were always on my list. but i do agree that having you purchase three boxes at a time is too much!
and i also find that having to purchase ziplock freezer bags are unacceptable... i mean, how many students is this ONE teacher asking to bring boxes and boxes of paper towels, kleenex tissues, and ziplock bags? and why do they even have to be from the ziplock company? ridiculous.
i do hope your son's list isn't as ludicrous as your daughter's.