Do Your Teachers (or Kids’ Teachers) Request School Supplies From Students?

As a teacher, I pay for a lot of my own supplies for my classroom. To ask a parent to donate a box of tissues or some hand sanitizer to me is not over the top. I supply over half my students with pens, pencils, paper, etc. all with my own money so if a parent can help me out that is wonderful. I understand that many parents think that the teachers are hoarding all of the supplies but believe me, I asked for tissues one year and received 15 boxes of them. I still bought more with my own money. I teach 5 classes with an average of 25-32 kinds in each of them. Please do not think we are hoarding them, we use the supplies and many of us even give supplies to some of our kids who cannot afford them. Yes, times are tough but if you can help out someone in need, in the end you may just feel better about yourself and who you helped.

It's the least parents can do!!

Most teachers that I have met up with so far have requested school supplies throughout the year for their own supply to stock the classroom and the school supplies that I did buy for my kids, the teachers would take it and say it has to be used for the classroom. It is hard enough to buy school supplies for all my kids and the teachers want me to buy for a whole class also? I don't friggin think so! So I started to supply my kids a little bit for themselves to get through each week and not like two whole pads of paper at once and a pack of pencils or two, etc. I am not supplying for a whole classroom, I am not Opra Winfrey. Now a days with the economy with the way it is, it's everyone for themselves.

Actualy I do not know since I do not have kids but they should need or have to it should be up to the Distirct to see that the schools have adequet supplies for the year

OOPS, I answered wrong, ment yes, at the beginning of the year.

A MINIMAL LIST OF INEXPENSIVE ITEMS IS O.K., ....BUT DON'T EXPECT ALL PARENTS ABLE TO BUY OUT THE STORE. MANY TEACHERS BUY SUPPLIES OUT OF THEIR OWN POCKETS, (WHICH IS TOUGH ON THEIR FAMILY BUDGETS AS WELL.) ...SCHOOL DISTRICTS NEED TO CUT SOME OF "THE CREAM" OFF THE VERY TOP OF THEIR ADMINISTRATIVE PAYROLLS.

I wenmt to 2 parachial schools those nuns didn't request school supplies...........THEY DEMANDED SCHOOL SUPPLIES FROM PARENTS GENERALLY WHO HAD ONLY ONE OR 2 STUDE#NT^S IN SCHOOL, CONSTANTLY !!!!

Well, no kids. But when I was going to school each student was EXPECTED to bring their own supplies in, in most cases. I think art was an exception. The school would provide clay or parchment or easels, paint, paintbrushes, but the usual stuff, that was up to the kids to have.

yup

From elementary all the way through high school, every year I had a list of demands on the materials I needed, and depending on the teacher, I may have been graded on whether or not I had those materials.

But, that's because we have a very active PTA and we have fundraisers from which we allocate each teacher a $500 stipend for supplies that the school board / taxpayers no longer cover - like art supplies, special projects, or any speciality the teacher has that's not provided by the SB. (Yes, the teachers give us receipts throughout the year. Our fund-raising chair keeps track.)

A couple of years ago the school board stopped the "stipend" ($150) they allotted each teacher - (Teachers would order out of a book; they didn't get the cash.) - so the PTA took it up. Especially since a lot of us knew the teachers needed more than they ordered and bought stuff out of their own pockets any way.

Plus, our PTA has adopted an "on-the-border-with-an-inner-... school, where the affordable housing /working poor families' kids go, and their teachers get the same deal. (We didn't think of it on our own - one of our teachers used to work there.) The PTA Council buys book bags for distribution in many of the schools, but you'd be surprised how many kids come from homes where there is no paper, no books - and certainly not colored pens or pencils - to put in those book bags. Hence, the PTA chips in.

If the PARENTS can't get the supplies, what happens to the kid?

Tissues, hand sanitizer, things like that. Since it comes out of the teacher's own pocket, my family was only too happy to help out.

REALLY! You have to spend big bucks on supplies and the teacher, who make good money, doesn't have too. Or are you just kissing the teachers ass?

Let me point out everything wrong with that post.

A: It is hardly "big bucks"

B: "Good money" is subjective to change depending on where you look.

C: It isn't kissing the teacher's ass, see:
-C.1: It was my parents buying them, not me
-C.2: I had no reason to kiss any teacher's ass
-C.3: Back then (not so long ago) more parents (compared to today) actually took the time to meet their child's teacher and chose to assist them so the teacher could buy more important things to better educate their child. Back when parents appreciated teachers as educators and not babysitters.

D: Teachers should not be forced to spend their paycheck on basic classroom supplies unless they are going to get significant raises to cover it.

I'm not going to debate this with you and your not going to change my thinking. But divide a teachers salary by the 180 days they work and look at the hourly rate. And the school system should give the teachers their supplies.

Clearly your teachers are better paid than mine were.

And yes, the school system should either give them supplies or provide some sort of fund for each teacher that they can use only for supplies.

I have so say that I am a teacher and where ever you live your teachers must be paid a good amount. I can barely make ends meet in my household on my salary and my husband's. Schools do give us money for supplies but many of us use that money to supply the ink for the cartridges so kids can print at the schools instead of at home. Next, I would love a raise just like anyone else but we have been on a freeze for the last five years. You say I only work 180 days, that is bull. I work a full 8 hour day, then I go home and grade papers, and plan lesson, and do after school tutoring on my own time. I sponsor activities for students and do not get paid for it, I mentor new teachers and I am not paid for that either. You have no idea what I do for a living. I make a difference in every child's life I touch and in some instances I am one of the only ones who gives a damn. I have purchased clothing for some of my students who could not afford it. I have a friend who started a program to get less fortunate kids sneakers so that wouldn't have to duct tape their shoes together. What you need to do is step into the world of a teacher and see what they actually do. I think I have helped to raise some pretty amazing kids. That is what I do, and if I ask for some supplies then give me a break and help me out.

That depends on the school.

Back in elementary school, it used to be stuff like tissues and hand sanitizer, etc. -shrug-

My daughter teaches in an inter city school and is forced to purchase supplies with part of her earnings if the children she is teaching are to have any. With the cuts being made for the upcoming school term, she may well also be asked to pay to heat her classroom.

HEAT? I TAUGHT IN INNER CITY FOR 34 YEARS, ...QUITE A FEW WITHOUT HEAT (BROKEN ANCIENT BOILER, NO MONEY IN BUDGET FOR A NEW ONE.) I REQUESTED PARENTS TO BUY SWEATERS AND JACKETS FOR THEIR CHILDREN. I PURCHASED THE TISSUE, PEPPERMINT CANDY (FOR COUGHS), HAND SANITIZER, CLEANSERS FOR TABLE TOPS, ......EVEN PURCHASED A SMALL XEROX MACHINE TO COPY READING MATERIALS FOR LESSONS (NOT ENOUGH TEXTBOOKS FOR ALL STUDENTS.) IT WAS A CHALLENGE, BUT THEY'RE WONDERFUL ADULTS NOW... MANY VERY SUCCESSFUL PROFESSIONALS!

Congratulations! However, during the time you were employed was there an outcry by the politicians expecting you to turn out several Rhodes Scholars in spite of having to spend weeks teaching some of your pupils to recognize their given name before they could be taught how to actually spell and site it?
This country will go whichever way our youth learn is the correct way.
In a few years, the children we fail to teach will be the ones knocking you in the head to take your pension earnings away from you.

Teacher request in grade school, that everyone bring in a box of kleenex, sometimes
they give you a list of supplies you need. From grade school, junior high and high
school you got a coupon book for supplies, but I think teacher would still ask for
other supplies.

I remember going to school, you paper, pencil, pen, and didn't need all this
other stuff.

Our school district is completely screwed.

Man, I may as well give them my entire friggin closet, bathroom, and kitchen. Every other week theres something going on about how you need to bring in stuff for "the school", Funny thing is only thing being supplied isn't the classrooms, its the office or the place no student uses. WHATS IT GUNNA TAKE TO GET A TISSUE AND SOME HAND SANITATION, CMON!

...as well,most teachers I know take part of their salary to provide needed supplies for their students and this should not be. When will we consider our youth important enough to take care of their needs and pay their teachers what they deserve?

And then some.

C'mon man, don't we have a greater cause than this?

They go over a mostly-obvious supplies list and tell us if we'll need anything specialized during the year. For example, math teachers (especially in grade nine) tell kids they'll be needing a calculator or they'll never make it, and art teachers go over the types of art they'll be studying so people don't buy supplies for a medium the teachers did not plan to do.

Some of the teachers my kids have had will offer extra credit, or a homework assignment pass if they bring in an extra notebook for kids who can't afford them, maybe a box of kleenex during cold season. It's not only helpful on the teacher's/school's budget, but also an opportunity to help a struggling kid raise their grade a little.

I actually saw the opposite in St. Louis Public Schools. They would hold pre start of school fairs that donated these items to kids in need. The only things I was asked to donate was one teacher who asked for tissue, hand sanitizer and TP for her classroom. And that was only once.

It never happened to me.

back in elementary school they did, but in high school we get whatever supplies we need, not what teachers think we need.

If they participate in sports it even more money. Even though they make money from some of the sports programs such as football.

I think the money for participating in a sport goes to the equipment, and for insurance. And, I would suspect, to pay for the assistant coaches. (The head coach's pay is probably covered by the school board.)

Most of the GATE money goes right back into sports programs. Usually the football program. Kids go to "football camp" during the summer. Who do you think pays for that? Uniforms and all the other equipment. Who do you think pays for that? Buses to transport kids to other schools for games. Who do you think pays for that?

Maybe it depends upon the school system, but gate proceeds in our community pay for the refs, even the upkeep of the field. In fact, the team has a "Booster Club" to raise even more money for things like a weight room.

Even when I was in school we had to pay for the insurance. Depending on the school it can cost $1500 to $2000 dollars to play football. I had to pay $400 for my grandson to play golf. When I was in High School the football and Basketball games ,ticket sales paid for all the sports. We had training camps for football in the summer when I was in school as well. They start 6 weeks before school did and we were there about 6 hours day getting in shape and practicing with new players and going over game plans and new plays.

My kids' teacher does, but I don't

When I was a kid (I really was one at some point in my life) a free education did not include pencils, crayons, paper, notebooks, workbooks, scissors, or even err... slide rules. My kids got free everything when they began school in 1980, but by middle school they began purchasing their own notebooks.

We get a master supply list at the beginning of the year and buy all of the supplies off that. usually, by the second month of school, we start getting emails-the classroom could really use more kleenex, paper towels, and sanitizer. So, we send that in, then the child starts telling me she is out of pens, pencils, paper, whatever, then more requests for zip lock bags (gallon and quart) and paper towles.

Last year, initial school supplies were $125.00, plus two fees at school. Course of the year spending was nearly $225.00, PLUS field trip costs, and book fees, and other stuff. All in addition to the tuition we pay.

BUT, for the quality of education, it is VERY worth it.

My only real issue with school supplies, is what happens to all those ziplock bags.


We get one at the end of each year with their leftover supplies in it. Never see another one all year long. So, WHERE do 25 boxes of gallon and 25 boxes of quart ziplock bags GO?


Daughter says they never use them in school.