Cheap School Supplies

Does anyone else think that the money schools make/ask parents and guardians to shell out is OUTRAGEOUS?

I do not have any children, however I teach and tutor them. I started up a program for families in need. I have about 50 kids that I enrolled in my program, and I tutor them in areas that they are having trouble with. I offer help in Math, English/Language Arts, Science, U.S. History, Social Studies, Geography, Spanish and Test Prep/Study Skills. All of my services are provided ABSOLUTELY free of charge.

I also donate and provide backpacks full of school supplies to children whose families cannot afford them, and I also pack a week’s worth of bag lunches with the kids one night a week at my house so that they can take them to school and have something nutritious to eat for lunch and snacks. I also make sure that they have plenty to drink because so many children are not getting adequately hydrated in schools these days (I work in nursing and I see sick school-aged kids all of the time and too too many of them come in extremely dehydrated) and teachers aren’t paying good enough attention to this issue. But that’s a whole separate ballgame.

Anyway, I started this program BECAUSE I believe schools are outrageous with their demands for fees and supplies and "suggestions" for donations and such. The supply lists they send home to parents/guardians are outrageous, extensive and very costly. Also, some schools even have programs in classrooms where they want to either have breakfast, snack times or "milk breaks". This is a great idea and all, but it’s not if families have to PAY for all of these things. It’s not fair for the children whose families cannot afford it. Why should some children have to sit in class and watch other kids have snacks, breakfasts, juices and milks when they have none? Schools should not allow this to happen. They should either provide snacks and drinks for every child, or get rid of the "program" altogether. Some families cannot even afford to send their children to school with adequate lunches (by absolutely NO FAULT of their own), let alone with money for extra snacks, juice and milk! Give these people a break. It’s simply not fair.

And don’t even get me started on book fairs, plant sales, craft fairs, Christmas gift sales and things like that. (Most of these proceeds do not go 100% to the schools, and if they don’t, in my opinion anyway, they shouldn’t have them. And some families cannot afford to send their children with money for these things as I’ve said before, so why should some children feel left out? These are not NECESSARY things. The focus here should be on EDUCATION, not begonias!!!!)

THEREFORE, for these reasons, I started this program. Tutoring is incredibly expensive (especially if you turn to one of those Sylvan learning centers or something – sheesh!) the price of school lunches really adds up (not to mention, you really don’t know if what your child is eating is nutritious at all), and school supply costs (plus those little "extra" fees they like to slide in there all of the time with those notes they send home asking for here, there what seems like every gosh darn week!) add up very, VERY fast.

I believe that every child is entitled to a more than decent education, no child should ever go hungry, and no child should suffer emotional distress because s/he is watching another child get something that they cannot have in school, where children are supposed to be focusing on education, not getting their feelings hurt because some of the other kids have a juicebox and s/he doesn’t (schools should not even be supporting this). Schools go on and on and on about equality and fairness….but what I described above is not fair or equal at all.

And just for the record, I live on a very strict budget as so so many families do. I do my best to clip coupons and buy in bulk for the kids and I get all of my teaching supplies at the dollar store. Sometimes I get lucky and find extra supplies (like newspapers, magazines, paper, half-used notebooks, etc.) tossed out in recycling bins and things like that.

I just wanted to let all of the parents out there know that even though I don’t have children of my own, I understand how much of a dent school costs can put into your wallet and I’m really trying to help make the load a little lighter for as many families as I can.

So, does ANYONE agree that schools are asking (and sometimes even demanding!) way too much? And that the costs are just outrageous? I’d love some feedback on this!!!!

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 13th, 2010 at 8:09 am and is filed under School Supplies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

7 Responses to “Does anyone else think that the money schools make/ask parents and guardians to shell out is OUTRAGEOUS?”

Mark R Says:
May 13th, 2010 at 8:10 am
I totally agree. You just summed up all the major points.
galaxy99 Says:
May 13th, 2010 at 8:10 am
i agree with almost everything you have mentioned
Gezo Says:
May 13th, 2010 at 8:10 am
Lol ya, its funny when no one in the entire highschool sells any magazines for fund raiser
old greg Says:
May 13th, 2010 at 8:10 am
If you run for president I will vote for you. It is not to often on yahoo answers that someone will post something that anyone with any kind of intelligence has to agree with.
Good for you and thank you.
Deridovely Says:
May 13th, 2010 at 8:10 am
I’ll be honest, i didn’t read all of that great wall of text.
but I skimmed through it.

I agree, we have to pay a fee for textbooks in the begining of the year and if we lose one, it’s anywhere from $70-$100 per textbook!

Workbooks (That are required!) cost about $35 – $50,(and are never used in some classes!)
and the health one cost $30, even though health is only one semester and we never used it once!
Afterwards, it just got thrown away!

PE clothes cost $40 for the plain T-shirt and shorts. (Optional: Sweat pants are $30 and long sleaves are $25)

When you take an art elective (required) such as silk-screening, wood/metal working, ceramics ect ect. The shop fees are $60-$80 PER SEMESTER. (and you need to take 3 semesters)
I have ceramics, it cost $60 each time.

The yearbook cost $120
ASB membership costs $15 (it does nothing…)
ID card costs $10-$15 (If you want some add ons)

To make an official club, it costs $280 the first year and $200 every following year. (I’m secretary of the Japanese Club)

I don’t eat lunch at school because it’s so expensive….

Also if you want, you can purchase class rings, school jackets, bobbleheads of our mascot ect ect but I’m not sure how much those things cost. (A lot probably)

Last year (freshman) I spent roughly $800 just on "required" books and uniforms.

This year (sophmore) I’ve already spent about $520 and school just started…

While this is going on, I’m getting some dental work done so Mom has the few extra hundred for that.
It’s just my Mom raising me and she doesn’t get paid all that much, it’s so rough right now.
Mary C Says:
May 13th, 2010 at 8:10 am
Wow! I definitely agree with you. The cost of school has just gone sky high with no end in sight!

If you are doing what you say, you are a saint!

My kids went to Catholic School in the ’80’s. The cost of tuition was about $300.00 yearly per family. Of course, the Parish Church subsidized the school. Now, that same school charges almost $5,000.00 yearly per child!

Public schools are a mess around here! Much of the budget is not spent on educating the kids, but rather on the top of the food chain — administrative costs! We taxpayers deserve a lot better than we are getting for our money!

Some of your concerns will probably never be remedied. There will always be richer and poorer.

Children should never go hungry, nor should they be denied a good education. But as long as there is poverty, ignorance, and all the baggage that goes along with that, those kids will never have a chance.

Folks like you are such a valuable resource. Bless you!
♥My 2¢♥ Says:
May 13th, 2010 at 8:10 am
I agree that the cost of some things is ridiculous! Especially the "fund raisers" they send these kids home with. The items they have for sale are actually worth about 50% of what they cost! The school supply lists…don’t even get me started on those! lol

However, I have a 5 year old daughter who started Kindergarten this year. (her 2nd year in school as she went to Pre-K also) Her school has actually done some really good things both years. For example, for the Christmas fund raiser, they got local companies to donate items and they set up a "Christmas store" in one of the classrooms. Parents who had the time volunteered to work in the store, and the children could bring money from home to buy gifts for their familes complete with wrapping! The gifts ranged from $0.50 to $20.00 so there was something that every child could afford and 100% of the profits went to the school. I thought it was a GREAT idea and I happily volunteered to help out!

Also, due to the economy, her teacher came up with a great alternative to the dreaded school supply list! She had each parent pay $20.00 at the beginning of the school year for a school supply fee and she bought all of the supplies herself with the money. This way she was able to buy the items in bulk and get them at a discounted price. It worked out great considering the supply list costs at LEAST $30.00 and you have to buy new stuff when they use it all up. We also didn’t have to do all that shopping and worrying about whether or not we were getting the correct items. (definitely a plus!)

They also offer free or reduced price lunches for each child based on the family’s income. Each parent is required to fill out a lunch form the first week of every new school year so that no child has to pay more than the parents can afford. Then at the end of the school year, they also offer a summer lunch program. Monday through Friday from 11:00 to 1:00 any child who needs a meal can come to the school and have lunch based on the prior year’s lunch price. (so if they got free lunch at school that year, they can also have free lunch all summer) This is a blessing for some parents who can’t even afford food at home!

Sorry this was so long, but I wanted to get the point across that there are things that can be done to help out if the schools are only willing to do it. My daughter’s school has proved that it can be done and I have to give them kudos for that!

I fully agree with you. Alot of things should be changed and CAN be changed…I just don’t think people put enough effort into it.

Does anyone else think that the money schools make/ask parents and guardians to shell out is OUTRAGEOUS?

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