Cost Of Public School

[POPTOP]

DD's budget is very tight so we help out where we can. Got the grands school supply list and picked up stuff for the 2 little ones. Over $200.00 - WHAT!

Why does a 1st grader need 2 reams of paper? Why the heck does she need 6, 24 count, boxes of crayons? Oh, not just any crayons, they had to be Crayola. The Rose Art crayons were on sale at the exchange, 10 boxes for $5. Instead I had to pay almost a dollar per box. Markers had to be Crayola. Why 2 pairs of kid scissors for one kid? Why does a 3rd grader need 6, 24 packs, of pencils?

Plus, all supplies have to be delivered in their packaging, not opened, and not labeled. Hum, sounds like they are all going into one big storage room.

I know there are a lot of families that cannot afford this kind of stuff. There are programs where the kids can get a backpack filled with supplies for free but DD does not qualify. The schools also used to ask for, if you could, extras for help those who could not afford.

Thank goodness for "uniforms". The kids have to wear dark blue or black (can't remember which) or khaki pants and light blue or white shirts. That does cut down on clothing expenses IF you can find them in the pre-school time scramble of everyone trying to find the same thing.

[smartrock]

I think the supplies do get collected and used by all the students in the class. Not like in the past where each kid's stuff was each kid's stuff and if you had a box full of broken crayons by the second month of school, well, tough. I looked at this year's supply list for 3rd grade at one of the schools I frequently work at and the kids are asked to bring 20-30 pencils, one box of crayons, one pack of colored markers, no brands are specified and the parents are told they will be shared among all the kids. In your grands school, if there are 25-30 kids in a 3rd grade class and each child is bringing 144 pencils, does that mean they really go through over 4000 pencils in one school year? By 2 reams of paper do you mean printer paper, like to copy all the worksheets that schools use these days? I can vouch for the fact that schools go though tons of printer paper but I don't recall it being an item on kids yearly supply list.

A funny supply list story, One year in middle school about 15 years ago, one of my kid's supply list said they needed a "3 1/2 inch floppy dick". The day after the teacher gave out the supply list she asked that the kids return the lists so she could make corrections. One of the class smart alecks, knowing exactly what she was referring to, said, "But Miss ______, I already got everything!" I think she lost control of the class for the rest of the period that day!

[POPTOP]

Yes, the reams of paper are copy paper. I do know that the school budgets are extremely tight so I guess the kids are being required to supply that too. It just seems so excessive for each child. Plus, the kids have to pay for registration. OK, I know I'm old, but when I went to school, you were registered for free and everyone brought pencil, pen, and paper. A few additional items as I got into higher grades. Oh, for the old days.

[doubledip1]

Hi Fran! I'm sorry your grandkids' teachers are asking for so much. It definitely shouldn't cost $200. I aim for $25 spending with prices I check in March when there aren't any sales. I think $25 is a reasonable amount for an entire year of educational supplies (remember, learning is their job), but with smart shopping I'm sure you could half that.

I'm sure Katie will chime in, but yes, lots of things are shared! Kids go through a TON of pencils. Every kid forgets their pencil, and they've got to get one from somewhere. Trust me, 144 isn't a crazy amount, it's a little more than one pencil per day, but you can't use the entire pencil anyway.

Crayola vs. Rose Art, I personally do prefer Crayola, and they last much longer. They are better made. I'd rather you pay once and have a stronger crayon that holds up better to the poor motor control of school-age children. Kids press way harder than adults. Kids forget to leave the cap off the marker for longer. Yes, Crayola's markers hold their pigment better than Rose Art. They're sturdier for when your kid puts the cap on by absolutely pushing the edge of the marker into the desk. That said, 6 of them is excessive. 1 box of 24 crayons and 1 pack of 12 markers is fine with me.

Little kids snot! A lot! Each kid probably wipes their nose once a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but once a day per kid evens it out. Let's say I have 25 kids in my classroom. 25 kids * 1 a day * 180 days of school = 4,500 tissues. There are 200 sheets in a box of Great Value brand tissues. That's 22.5 boxes for the school year. I ask for tissues.

Some schools don't pay for paper in the classroom. Mass copies should definitely be run in the copy room, and 2 reams is a lot, but you do need printer paper in your classroom to make originals and print one-off documents. 1 ream per student would be fine for me.

You would be surprised at how small the budget is to buy classroom supplies ;-)

[fan of fanboys]

My son does not go to a public school but I would be irate with the pooling together of supplies.
I don't care what is on the list, I will buy whatever is needed for my kid. But I want my kid only to use the supplies. I am selfish like that I guess.

My son goes to a private school. Now cost of tuition aside we still have to buy school supplies, and once in middle and upper school buy textbooks as well. But he is going into 2nd grade next week and his school supplies we get a list and have option: buy from school or go buy ourselves. To buy from the school is only like $45. So we do that each year. One year tried to buy ourselves and could not find a couple items in local stores and what we could find between gas and time and cost of materials would have been more than $45

[shellbell]

A friend of mine had to supply an Ipad for her Kindergartner this year. And next year she will need to buy a new one to support the software that the kids will be using in first grade. She had a hand me down one to get him through this year.

[POPTOP]

Last year the kids were in private school and the supplies were not as expensive. All items had to have their name on it so they were obviously using what was bought for them.

Oldest grand is a junior this year. Starting last year the school went to chrome books. There was a cost of $50. They had in school access to repairs and those that were not from obvious abuse were done for free. Since she had no problems and turned in the computer in good condition, the $50 free was waived this year.

[ArchieSit]

Wow, it costs to register?? That seems illegal for public school. At my kids' (public) elementary, you contribute money to the Booster Club if you are able, and then Boosters supply ALL supplies for every child. Kids need a backpack, one folder, and a lunchbox. For grades K-5. It is wonderful, and every family can contribute what they are able -- or nothing if it's a rough year.

My son is in middle school, and he needs a folder and a notebook for every class (so six of each). Then whatever writing implement he prefers. That's it.

Sorry that you are having to shell out so much.

[Bernie]

Hi Fran! I'm sorry your grandkids' teachers are asking for so much. It definitely shouldn't cost $200. I aim for $25 spending with prices I check in March when there aren't any sales. I think $25 is a reasonable amount for an entire year of educational supplies (remember, learning is their job), but with smart shopping I'm sure you could half that.

I'm sure Katie will chime in, but yes, lots of things are shared! Kids go through a TON of pencils. Every kid forgets their pencil, and they've got to get one from somewhere. Trust me, 144 isn't a crazy amount, it's a little more than one pencil per day, but you can't use the entire pencil anyway.

Crayola vs. Rose Art, I personally do prefer Crayola, and they last much longer. They are better made. I'd rather you pay once and have a stronger crayon that holds up better to the poor motor control of school-age children. Kids press way harder than adults. Kids forget to leave the cap off the marker for longer. Yes, Crayola's markers hold their pigment better than Rose Art. They're sturdier for when your kid puts the cap on by absolutely pushing the edge of the marker into the desk. That said, 6 of them is excessive. 1 box of 24 crayons and 1 pack of 12 markers is fine with me.

Little kids snot! A lot! Each kid probably wipes their nose once a day. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but once a day per kid evens it out. Let's say I have 25 kids in my classroom. 25 kids * 1 a day * 180 days of school = 4,500 tissues. There are 200 sheets in a box of Great Value brand tissues. That's 22.5 boxes for the school year. I ask for tissues.

Some schools don't pay for paper in the classroom. Mass copies should definitely be run in the copy room, and 2 reams is a lot, but you do need printer paper in your classroom to make originals and print one-off documents. 1 ream per student would be fine for me.

You would be surprised at how small the budget is to buy classroom supplies ;-)

You have some interesting numbers there, many of us without kids in school wonder where the tax money goes though……. also brings to mind my thoughts on donating money for anything……. we never really know where it winds up.
Perhaps I'll get a case or two of tissues and take to the local elementary school here,
they probably won't let me in.

[Jeff]

Uhg, don't get me started. This rolls right into one of my political things. Stupid Congress, we have 10 nimitz class air craft carriers. Each of which is more powerful than 4th most powerful countries air forces in the world. And we have 10 of them at about 8 billion each. But they are planning a whole new fleet of air craft carriers at 42 billion each. Just cutting 3 of these new air craft carriers would double the budget for education.

Just saying All our teachers need a big raise. All our kids, need an good education.