Supplying schools
It used to be kids were sent off on the first day of the school year with notebooks, textbooks, pencils and a colorful lunch pail. Based on a TV news report I saw the other day, times have surely changed.
In one district -- I'm not sure where -- the list of supplies kids need to have on the first day of school included everything from tissues and disinfectant wipes to toilet paper. Obviously budgets are tight everywhere, but this is just a little scary. Plus, I have this image of that toilet paper winding up wrapped around the trees on the school grounds, not that all children these days aren't little angels who would never dream of doing such a thing!
It's been true for a very long time that schools don't have nearly enough money to buy all the supplies most teachers would like for their classrooms. Even when I was volunteering years ago in an inner city elementary school, the teacher I worked with spent a huge percentage of her own money on creative supplies for her learning disabled students. She haunted thrift stores for placemats that could be cut into puzzle shapes or objects that could be turned into a matching game. She was one of the most caring, inventive teachers I've ever met. And I know she was spending money she didn't have to spare. We've been expecting this of teachers for way too long.
And now we're asking parents, who theoretically pay for their child's education with tax dollars, to chip in with more than notebooks and pencils. I'm not suggesting that's wrong, only that it worries me how it will affect the family that's barely making ends meet at home. Some folks are barely able to scrape together the money for the classroom essentials, much less the desirable backpacks and other things kids need to feel as though they fit in.
I'd love to hear what's happening in your school district. Has that essential school supply list grown dramatically this year? How do you feel about it? Click on comments below and let me know.
Does your community have a school supply drive? Though I've dropped off supplies for those in the past, something tells me it's more important than ever this year. If you have the money to spare for a few extra pencils, pens, notebooks or whatever's on your child's list, pick up a few items and take them to a community drop-off. Buy in bulk wherever such things are available and share with others. No child should ever start the school year without a few basic necessities...especially toilet paper!
Comments
School Supplies
As the mother of a 2nd grader, I see this in my child's school everyday. There is just not enough money in a school budget that has had to weather 22 million dollars in budget cuts this year to supply even the essentials to the classroom. As parents, we have all pitched in together to help - we supply the daily classroom snack, the paper towels, the games, the markers.
But I have a child who attends a magnet school, where 35% of the students are from economically devastated households and 60 of our 700 students are homeless. And so, those of us who can help, do. You buy a complete second set of the supplies on the supply list for your child's class and give them to the teacher who will discreetly place them in a child's desk, you stuff a new backpack with more supplies (and healthy food) and hand it off to your school's community outreach advocate so that she can make sure they go where they are most needed, you plan a book fair where EVERY child will be able to buy a book no matter what their situation. And most important, you make school a place where a child feels safe and insulated (as much as possible) for 7 hours a day. A place where we are already talking about how to give these children a meal for Thanksgiving and a gift for the holidays.
So, as you say, please donate whatever you can to the schools for back to school, but please support them throughout the rest of the year too. That toilet paper does run out!
How wonderful that everyone
How wonderful that everyone does what they can at your school! The book fair issue was a big one for me. A few years back I established a small fund at our local schools so that no child would be left out when it came time to choose books at the book fair. I'd seen years ago how much it meant to children to actually own their own books, and I never want to see children not experience that joy. Of course, when it comes down to choosing, which matters more...the healthy snacks, the school suppies or the books that enrich their lives? I want the next generation to have it all...or at least as much of it as it is within our power to give them.